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February 2012

401(k) plan review – Fidelity BrokerageLink

02.29.2012

In 2011, my company restructured our 401(k) plan. Previously, we had about 50 mutual funds and investments to choose from in the 401(k) plan. As you know, people can be paralyzed into making no decision at all when there are too many choices. I think 50 choices are way too much and many employees didn’t participate in the 401(k) plan. So the company revamped their plan to reduce choices and added the Fidelity BrokerageLink option. With the new plan, we have about 13 investments plus target date funds to pick from in addition to the company stock. If the employee [...]

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How I lost 6 lbs!

02.27.2012

No, this is not an infomercial and I’m not trying to sell anything today. Last week, I went in for my annual physical and guess what. I lost 6 lbs and I weigh 130 lbs now. Yes, it took a year for me to lose 6 lbs, but I’m pretty sure this is sustainable and I should be able to maintain this weight. The 6 lb drop was quite surprising because I didn’t plan to lose weight. I’m actually very happy at 135 lbs (5’4.) How did I lose 6 lbs without planning to? The big change this past year [...]

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Is Life Insurance Worth It?

02.27.2012

If you want to retire early, you need to cut down on every expense you can to get the goal reached, right? Of course. But this begs the question of whether life insurance is worth the capital outlay when you’re already trying to sock away every extra penny for your future nest egg. The problem is compounded by different plans from different companies, and the whole process can become mighty confusing – and very discouraging – if you don’t even know if it’s worth buying. Evaluating your life insurance needs is easy; all you need to do is answer a [...]

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4 Things You Need to Know Before Moving into a Senior Retirement Community

02.25.2012

The following is a guest post on behalf of LivingSenior. There are a lot of things to check off for older Americans considering senior living. Not all of it will be found in the fine print, but there are at least four areas you need to check out to make sure that you’re making the best choice for you and your family. 1) Financials and Billing The cost of a facility is usually available to any prospective residents, but add-ons and amenities aren’t always clear. In independent living facilities, are there services like housecleaning or groundskeeping? In assisted living or [...]

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Should we make extra payments on the mortgage?

02.24.2012

After the last round of refinancing, our primary residence mortgage rate is now at 4.25%. At this interest rate, I have to ask – Should we make extra payments? The original plan was to keep paying the same amount that we were paying before the refinance so the house will be paid off quicker, but perhaps this is not the best thing to do with our extra money. Let’s make a quick pro and con comparison list to help us decide. Extra Payment Pros: Feels good. It feels good to pay down the mortgage every month. We don’t like owing [...]

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