Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
June 2018
How to Become a 401(k) Millionaire
Would you like to have a million dollars by the time that you retire? There are several ways to become wealthy. One wealth-building strategy is to marry a wealthy person (e.g., Bill Gates’ wife Melinda). Another is to inherit a lot of money or receive a large settlement of some kind. A third way is to invent or produce a …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
May 2018
Steps to Get Your Retirement Planning on Track
One of the most frequently mentioned investment goals that people have is retirement. In 2017, AARP and the Ad Council introduced a new web site www.AceYourRetirement.org to encourage people to take action to save for retirement. The savings promotion effort also has a dedicated Twitter hashtag: #AcingRetirement.
The Ace Your Retirement website, a digital assistant for retirement planning, …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
April 2018
Choosing a Financial Advisor
Being an investor takes some know-how. You can do it yourself using print or online resources or you can reach out to people in the financial services industry to find the information and advice that you need. Generally, consumers pay a fee or commission for financial advice, but it may be much less than costly financial mistakes.
Getting financial help is a …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
February 2019
Understanding Capital Gains on Investments
Paying income taxes is an unpleasant fact of life. Since we are in the middle of income tax season, an article related to capital gains taxes seems appropriate. When an investor sells securities and earns a profit, capital gains are realized and income tax is due. Conversely, an investment sale can also result in a capital loss. When this happens, the …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
January 2018
Two Tools to Assess Your Investment Risk Tolerance
Investment risk tolerance can be defined as the amount of volatility (i.e., change in the value of an investment) that an individual is willing to withstand, particularly on the downside (i.e., loss of money). It has sometimes been referred to as an individual’s “sleep at night factor” as in how much investment risk are people willing to take …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
September 2017
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): An Investment Opportunity?
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are a way that people can pay for unreimbursed medical expenses such as deductibles, co-payments, and services not covered by insurance. Eligible individuals can establish and fund these accounts only when they have a qualifying high-deductible health plan (HDHP). This means insurance with a deductible of at least $1,300 for individual coverage and $2,600 for …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
April 2017
The Rule of 72: Applications for Investors
To quickly estimate how long it will take for a sum of money to double, divide 72 by the expected interest rate that can be earned on a savings or investment product. For example, $2,000 placed in an IRA invested in a stock mutual fund would grow to $4,000 in nine years at an 8% average annual return (72 …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
March 2017
Don’t Overwithhold Income Tax Money- Invest It
Many people deliberately have extra federal and state income taxes withheld from their paychecks. Two advantages of overwithholding are that there’s no access to this money and, therefore, it can’t be spent recklessly, and the refund makes a nice windfall once a year to pay off debts or buy “big ticket” items. Two disadvantages are that taxpayers must wait …
