Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
April 2019
Ten Steps to Seven Figures
One of the most frequently cited purposes of investing is to build wealth for future financial goals such as a new car, a college education for children, and financial security in later life. Many people even have a specific dollar amount in mind such as having $1 million saved by the time that they stop working.
Below are ten recommendations to …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
March 2018
Factors That Promote Financial Success
During the last year, I had the opportunity to hear several well-known personal finance speakers talk about the characteristics and practices of financially successful people. Audiences are usually very interested in this topic because it provides a motivational roadmap and specific tips to follow.
At the 2017 Financial Planning Association (FPA) conference, the final general session speaker was financial author and …
It depends. You must have earned income to contribute to an IRA of any type, including a Roth IRA. This means that you must have a salary, hourly wage, or net earnings from consulting or a small business.
If you have earned income, the maximum amount that a person over age 50 can deposit in 2017 in a Roth IRA is the larger of 100% of earnings or $6,500 (the regular $5,500 contribution plus an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution). Roth …
According to the investment research firm Ibbotson Associates, these were the annual returns on various types of investments from 1926 through 2015:
* Small company stocks: 12.0%
* Large company stocks; 10.0%
* U.S. Government bonds: 5.6%
* U.S. Treasury bills: 3.4%
We would like your feedback on this Personal Finance Frequently Asked Question.…
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
February 2017
Factors That Affect Investment Risk Tolerance
To help investors objectively assess their investment risk tolerance, Rutgers Cooperative Extension has an online Investment Risk Tolerance Quiz at www.rce.rutgers.edu/money/riskquiz
Developed by Dr. Ruth Lytton at Virginia Tech and Dr. John Grable at the University of Georgia, the quiz has 13 multiple choice questions and provides users with instant feedback about their capacity to handle investment risk.
The questions …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
November 2017
The Benefits of Financial Health
This article is adapted from a previously written blog post for the eXtension Military Families Learning Network: https://militaryfamilies.extension.org/2017/06/27/what-financial-health-means-to-me-ned/
After a successful course of treatment, many doctors tell their patients that their physical health status is NED, which is doctor-speak for No Evidence of Disease. The same NED acronym can also be applied to a person’s financial health: …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
February 2018
A Hierarchy of Financial Decisions
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are an account that people can set up to 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). HSA money gets deposited tax-free, grows tax-free, and comes out tax-free, if used according to …
With a target date mutual fund, investors simply need to pick a fund with a date at or near the year that they expect to retire. For example, there are funds with dates such as 2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050 in their title.
The fund manager will gradually change the asset allocation of the fund as time goes by so that, eventually, there will be a smaller percentage of the portfolio in stocks and a higher percentage in bonds and …
Spousal IRAs are a type of individual retirement account designed for married couples where one spouse is not employed. The working spouse may contribute up to $5,500 per year (2017 figure) to an IRA, in the name of the non-working spouse, and up to $5,500 per year to his or her own IRA. As a result, a couple may contribute 100% of their income up to a total of $11,000 per year (2017 figure).
In addition, if you are age …
You are talking about an IPO (initial public offering). You should be able to get information (e.g., company research) from a stockbroker. Also, visit an online search engine (e.g., Bing or Google), type in the company name, and see what information you get. If there is an address or toll-free telephone number for the company’s “shareholder relations” department, call it. As for purchasing an IPO stock, you may or may not be able to buy shares directly from the company. …
