Articles
Welcome to our research center! We've put together a library of information on important financial topics that we believe you'll find helpful.
Simply click on one of the general financial topics below and you'll find a selection of easy-to-understand information sheets about related financial concepts and strategies. This information is updated regularly to reflect the latest facts, figures, legislation, and economic trends.
Estates & Trusts
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What Key Estate Planning Tools Should I Know About?
Wills and trusts allow you to spell out how you would like your property distributed, but they also go beyond that.
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How Can a Living Trust Help Me Control My Estate?
A living trust can help control the distribution of your estate upon death.
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What Are the Pitfalls of Probate?
The probate process can be lengthy and complex. There are strategies you can use to help avoid the probate process.
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How Can My Gift Benefit Me and the Charity?
To retain the tax advantages associated with charitable giving, your gift must be made to a qualified organization.
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How Will I Pay Estate Taxes?
If you believe your estate will be subject to estate taxes, consider how your heirs will pay the bill.
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How Can I Benefit from a Charitable Remainder Trust?
A designated income beneficiary could receive payment of a specified amount from a charitable remainder trust.
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How Can I Benefit from a Wealth Replacement Trust?
A wealth replacement trust could be used to gift appreciated assets to a charity as well as provide for heirs.
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Could My Family Benefit from a Family Limited Partnership?
One estate planning strategy that families with closely held businesses could consider is the family limited partnership.
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What Is the History of the Federal Estate Tax?
Careful estate planning is still one of the most important ways to manage and protect your assets for your heirs.
Retirement
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What Is an IRA Rollover?
If you leave a job or retire, you should consider your options regarding your employer retirement plan assets.
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What Is a Profit-Sharing Plan?
Profit-sharing plans give employees a share in the profits of a company and can help to fund their retirements.
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What Is a Money Purchase Pension Plan?
A money purchase plan is a retirement plan where employer contributions are based on a fixed percentage of compensation.
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Why Do People Buy Annuities?
Annuities, an insurance-based financial vehicle, can provide many benefits that retirement investors might want.
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What Are Annuity Living Benefits?
Living benefits can help protect variable annuity owners from running out of money in retirement.
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How Much Do I Need to Save?
Many realize it’s important to save for retirement, but knowing exactly how much to save is another issue altogether.
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Unforgettable Birthdays
There are key dates after you turn 59½ that can impact your taxes, Medicare eligibility, and retirement benefits.
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Should You Bank Your Retirement on Your Business?
Allocating too much of your retirement investments to one company, even your own, can be a risky proposition.
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What Is a Self-Employed Retirement Plan?
Tax-deferred retirement plans for self-employed individuals have higher contribution limits than IRAs.
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What Is a Traditional IRA?
If you do not participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you might consider a traditional IRA.
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What Is a 401(k) Plan?
401(k) employer-sponsored retirement plans have many benefits, including that the funds accumulate tax-deferred.
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Save Now or Save Later?
If you start saving for retirement sooner, the more money you are likely to accumulate and possibly retire sooner.
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What Is a Roth IRA?
Qualified Roth IRA distributions in retirement are free of federal income tax and aren’t included in gross income.
Tax Planning
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What Is the Estate Tax?
Everything you own, whatever the form of ownership, is subject to federal, and possibly state, estate taxes.
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What Is a Required Minimum Distribution?
Required minimum distribution is the annual amount that must be withdrawn from a qualified retirement plan/account.
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What Happens If I Withdraw Money from My Tax-Deferred Investments Before Age 59½
Tax-deferred retirement account withdrawals before age 59½ generally triggers a 10% federal income tax penalty.
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What Is Tax Deferral?
There can be a substantial benefit to deferring taxes as long as possible.
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How Can I Benefit from Tax-Advantaged Investments?
Many traditional tax-advantaged investment strategies have gone away, but there are still some alternatives.
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What Tax Deductions Are Still Available to Me?
Changes to the tax code have left a few key deductions for itemizers, like medical, dental and some business expenses.
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What Tax-Advantaged Alternatives Are Available?
While stable, CDs can create an income tax bill. Fixed annuities and municipal bonds can offer tax advantages.
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What Is the Most Tax-Efficient Way to Take a Distribution From a Retirement Plan
Consider a trustee-to-trustee transfer to an IRA versus a lump-sum distribution from a workplace retirement plan.
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Is There Such a Thing as a Tax-Free Investment?
It's important to understand tax-exempt vehicles when establishing a comprehensive tax planning strategy.
Investing
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What Is an Exchange-Traded Fund?
ETFs have unique attributes and attempt to track all types of indexes, industries, or commodities.
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What Is Stock?
Before investing in stocks, it is important to understand some of the basics and the risks involved in owning stocks.
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What Is Diversification?
An important element to successful investing is to manage investment risk while maintaining the potential for growth.
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What Is a Stock Index?
Stock market indexes can be useful benchmarks for gauging the performance of an investment portfolio over time.
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How Do Mutual Funds and Stocks Differ?
The difference between purchasing an individual stock versus shares in a mutual fund to potentially earn dividends.
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What Is a Mutual Fund?
A mutual fund is a collection of stocks, bonds, and other securities with certain benefits and risks.
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What Is an Annuity?
An annuity is a flexible financial vehicle that can help protect against the risk of living a long time because it provides an option for a lifetime income.
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What Investment Risks Should I Know About?
Understanding different types of investment risk can help investors manage their money more effectively.
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How Can I Save for My Child’s College Education?
There are several funding methods for a child's college education including mutual funds and Section 529 plans.
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What Stock and Bond Investing Alternatives Do I Have?
There are other ways to invest in stocks and bonds besides owning individual shares or bonds.
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What Is Dollar-Cost Averaging?
Dollar-cost averaging involves investing a set amount of money on a regular basis, regardless of market conditions.
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529 Lesson Plan: High Scores for 529 Plans
529 plans are tax-advantaged savings plans that generally allow people of any income level to contribute.
Cash Management
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What Are Some Tips for Managing My Money?
A sound cash management program uses a disciplined approach: accounting, analysis, allocation, and adjustment.
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What Cash Management Tools Are Available?
Short-term cash management instruments can help you establish a sound cash management program.
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How Do Money Market Mutual Funds Work?
Money market funds can be a highly liquid and effective cash management tool.
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How Can I Better Manage My Short-Term Cash?
There are numerous investment alternatives available to help provide liquidity.
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What Advantages Does a Biweekly Mortgage Offer?
Biweekly mortgage payments can have a dramatic effect on the amount of interest homeowners have to pay.
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What Is a Reverse Mortgage?
There are techniques that can enable older homeowners to use their property to finance their lifestyle.
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What About Financial Aid for College?
It's important to understand the options, such as financial aid grant programs, when having to pay for college.
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Is a Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit Right for Me?
Shifting some debt to a home equity loan, which typically allows interest payments to be tax deductible, could have its advantages.
Risk Management
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Why Purchase Life Insurance?
If you have a family who relies on your income, it is important to have life insurance protection.
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Why Are Annuities Considered an Insurance Product?
An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company to pay you future income in exchange for premiums you pay.
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Do I Need a Business Owner Policy?
A business owner policy is an insurance package that assembles the basic coverages required by a business owner in one bundle.
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What Is Life Insurance for Business Owners?
Company-owned life insurance is one way to help protect a business from financial problems caused by the death of a key employee.
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What Is Last-Survivor Life Insurance?
Couples who want to help protect their legacy from estate taxes could consider last-survivor life insurance.
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What Is Term Life Insurance?
Term life insurance differs from permanent forms of life insurance in that it offers temporary protection.
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What Is Universal Life Insurance?
Consider a universal life insurance policy if you want the flexibility to change your premium or death benefit.
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What Is Variable Life Insurance?
Variable life insurance gives you the control to allocate your account value among a variety of investment options.
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What Are the Main Types of Auto Insurance?
Even if your state doesn’t require certain types of auto insurance, it may be wise to purchase multiple types to ensure you are covered for a variety of situations.
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How Can I Insure My Future?
To help you choose insurance wisely, determine how much coverage and what kind of policy is best for your situation.
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How Can I Protect My Home?
Since your home is one of your greatest assets, you should make sure it is adequately protected. That's where homeowners insurance enters the picture.
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What Types of Health Coverage Are Available?
There are three basic types of medical insurance plans: fee-for-service, managed care, and high-deductible health plan.
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What Is the Difference Between an HMO and a PPO?
Selecting health insurance is often one of the most important decisions you will make. Do you know the different types?
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Am I Prepared for Long-Term Care Expenses?
The odds of needing long-term care increase as you age. Prior planning can help protect you from financial ruin.
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What Does Medicare Cover?
Medicare is the federal health insurance program for those persons age 65 and over. But what does it cover?
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What Are the Basic Types of Life Insurance?
When selecting a life insurance policy, examine all your options, as well as the positives and negatives of each type.