Over the past few years, if you’ve taken out a mortgage or another consumer loan, you’ve probably welcomed the low interest rates you may have received. But as an investor, if you’ve kept any retirement savings in fixed-rate investment vehicles, you may have seen low rates in a less favorable light. And that’s why it may be time for you take a closer look at your financial strategy for working toward the retirement lifestyle you’ve envisioned.

Of course, you can always hope that interest rates will rise, and perhaps they will. As you may know, the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at record lows in recent years to stimulate lending and thereby boost the economy. read more »

Imagine to yourself the following situation: The real estate market is in the toilet and the stock market is performing poorly (that wasn’t hard to do was it?). So you think to yourself “when prices are low it is a great time to buy.” You begin dreaming late at night about buying real estate, being a landlord and then when this market turns around you will sell your dirt cheap properties for a hefty profit.

So you stay up late at night indulging in beverages that contain too much sleep inhibiting chemicals trying to hatch a plan to fund your new real estate empire. Banks are a hassle these days (again not hard to imagine). So it hits you like a ton of bricks: “I will use my IRA to buy the property!” read more »

Could you end up paying higher taxes in retirement? Do you have a lot of money saved in a 401(k) or a traditional IRA? If so, you may be poised to receive significant retirement income.

Those income distributions will be taxed. As federal and state governments are hungry for revenue, you may see higher marginal tax rates in the near future.

Poor retirees with meager savings may rely on Social Security as their prime income source. They may end up paying less income tax in retirement, as up to half of their Social Security benefits won’t be counted as taxable income. read more »

When retirement planners try to estimate just how much money a couple or individual should take out of their savings annually, their model scenarios often assume a 4 percent annual withdrawal rate. Why is 4 percent used so frequently? Was that percentage plucked out of thin air? No, it actually became popular back in the 1990s.

The “Trinity Study” helped popularize the 4 percent guideline. In 1998, a trio of professors at San Antonio’s Trinity University analyzed historical market data between 1925 and 1995 in search of a “sustainable” withdrawal rate. read more »

Alternative investments, such as hedge funds, private equity, and real estate, are slowly but surely gaining sway with corporate pension fund managers. A recent survey by J.P. Morgan Asset Management of about 150 corporate pension plans found that alternative investments constitute about 11 percent of their assets, on average, and that the plans intend to increase that allocation to 14 percent within the next three years.

A separate survey of about 85 corporate pension managers by SEI Institutional Group found that the percentage of corporate pensions investing in alternatives increased for the third consecutive year. read more »

In less than two weeks, United Nations Day will be celebrated. It’s an occasion to highlight and reflect on the work of the United Nations, whose mission is to promote understanding and cooperation among the world’s countries. Of course, in an era of instantaneous communications and speedy global travel, we are all connected much more closely than ever before. And that’s certainly true in the financial markets, too, because as an investor, you’ve got a world full of opportunities. read more »

Every business owner is working to minimize cost and recoup financial losses in this economic climate. Beyond minimizing all costs, the basic goal of being in business is demonstrated growth and profitability. To achieve financial growth, in the worst recession since the Great Depression, leads many business owners to consider business diversification as a strategy. At an initial glance, it’s easy to say “more business-more money,” but spontaneously engaging a new endeavor without taking proper steps of evaluation, planning, and decision making have the potential to push your existing core business negatively over the “financial edge.” read more »

I just finished reading new Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll’s book titled, Win Forever. Regardless of your affinity for football, or your feelings about Carroll as a football coach, the book reveals important concepts that apply to not only sports, but to business and life. One of them is the theory of “I’m In.” read more »

It’s no secret that the IRS is always trying to increase tax compliance. However, this year (thankfully) it is not doing so by increasing the number of audits for ordinary taxpayers like you and me. This time the IRS is making an effort to clean up the vast pool of tax preparers. Over the next few years there will be clear limits on who can prepare a tax return for compensation (you can still do your own).

On Aug. 19, the IRS issued proposed regulations to register and regulate tax return preparers. The proposed regulations would implement a plan to register and assign a PTIN (Preparer Tax Identification Number) to all paid tax preparers who will file tax returns for the year 2011 and thereafter. read more »