The #1 Tip to Help Maximize Your 401(k) Investing

Investing is the most important element of our financial future.  Tony Robbins and Clark Howard recommend that people who have yet to invest in the stock market should ‘get in the game.’  Experts believe the financial market is still ‘winnable’. We agree.  Don’t wait to invest. Get started with whatever you have.

You can put off some small things in life without consequence, but when it comes to investing, sticking your head in the sand simply won’t cut it. If you don’t know how to start investing, when to start investing or why you should invest, now’s the time to learn. The sooner you get started, the more time and interest can help grow your money.

To learn more click here.

How to Tell If You Are Ready to Retire

Most people’s finances would be improved by another year spent in the workforce, but you also don’t want to work for so long that you don’t have time to enjoy the things you want to do in retirement.  Here’s how to tell if you are ready to leave the working world behind.

Make sure you do these 5 things before stepping away from the working world.

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When Should You Start Saving for College?

So when should you start saving for your kid’s college? The short answer is, as soon as possible.  However, you must fund your retirement first!  If you’re already putting enough away for retirement, start saving for your child’s college fund as soon as you can.

Click here to learn more about saving for your children’s college.  

What the Supreme Court’s fixes for retirement savings may do to your 401(k)

SUPREME COURT RULES WORKERS CAN SUE OVER HIGH 401(K) FEES

On Monday, The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that workers can sue their employers over high fees in their 401(k) plan offerings. Workers have complained for years about being forced to choose high fee investment options in their 401(k) plans because of a lack of other options. In a 9-0 decision, the justices decided that employers could be sued if their retirement plans offer employees mutual funds with unnecessarily high fees.

Learn More Here.

Should I Pay Off My Debt or Start Investing?

Should I pay off my debt or start investing? This question, perhaps more than any other, has plagued investors for generations. Ironically, it is one that can be easily decided by using a bit of simple math.

Read more here.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Agree – This Factor Was Most Important for their Success

Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates have all attributed their success to one factor. In fact, this one trait is behind the success of all people that have performed massively better than the average person.

Click here to find out what the trait is and how you can put it into practice in your own life and investing.

9 in 10 Americans Underestimate Their Hidden 401(k) Fees. When was the last time you checked the fees on your 401(k)?

Who’s looking out for your 401(k)?  Do you know who is legally responsible for plan losses and excessive fees?  Do you understand the fees being charged to your account?  When was the last time you checked the fees on your 401(k)?

All too often, workers with 401(k) accounts are in the dark. They view their retirement plan as a benefit and are unaware they’re paying for the privilege of investing for retirement. Many times, the 401(k) plans get neglected or pushed to the bottom of the list because the owner and Board of Directors are too busy with other tasks.

Many investors don’t realize that more than a half a dozen fees may be charged against their 401(k) account for recordkeeping, administration, investment advisory, brokerage and management services. These are often shaved off the top of the account’s investment returns, and never before seen by the 401(k) participants.

The Federal Government has been trying to enforce new regulations that require 401(k) plan providers to spell out the hidden fees workers pay.  The push for greater disclosure has been in the works for several years, and it has been a struggle.

Unveiling  investment expenses is particularly important for 401(k) participants in smaller companies. That’s primarily because many companies, especially small businesses, do not want to pay the thousands of dollars of operating costs; therefore, they set up retirement plans in which costs are paid by workers out of their investment returns.

All of this discussion is critical because 401(k) participants who pay just 1 percent more in fees see a significant impact on their retirement balance over their working careers.

Revealing these costs should cause workers to push their employers for a less expensive plan. That’s the takeaway for employees in all this. They should look over their reports and if they feel they’re not getting enough information, push for more. If they find their fees seem higher than average, they should talk to their plan administrator about lower fee options.

At Horizons Wealth Management, we feel certain that we can provide a better retirement plan for much lower costs.  We would be grateful for the opportunity to run a free cost comparison and analysis for your company to illustrate how much could be saved in your retirement plan fees.

The Recipe for Building a $1 Million Retirement Plan

The 401(K) has become America’s number one way to save for retirement.  The stock market’s recent bull streak has not only pushed the average 401(k) plan balance to record highs, but also boosted the ranks of a new breed of retirement investor: the 401(k) millionaire.  To join this “Million Dollar Club,” you need to learn all the right ingredients to this recipe.

Click here to read the article.