Filing For Bankruptcy? Don’t make these common mistakes

Common Bankruptcy Mistakes #1. Liquidation of your Retirement Account

In most bankruptcy cases, the petitioner’s retirement account is protected. However, despite this fact, many people choose to liquidate their retirement accounts and other assets in order to satisfy or pay down their debt prior to filing for bankruptcy. In most instances, this is not recommended, and [...]

Seniors can skip IRA withdrawals this year

Late last year, Congress approved legislation that waived the minimum withdrawal requirement for 2009. Unfortunately, the relief came too late for seniors who were hoping to avoid taking a withdrawal in 2008. Many IRAs plummeted in value last year.
Still, deferring a withdrawal in 2009 will enable your IRA to continue to benefit from this year’s [...]

Personal Finance : Lost your job? Don’t cash out your 401 (k)

Millions of workers take a huge chance with their retirement savings every year by cashing out their 401(k) accounts when they lose their jobs or move to new employers.
When people cash out, a chunk of their money just disappears.
Employers and financial advisers have warned workers about the possibility of retiring poor, something that’s more likely [...]

Central Provident Fund : What you should know

In the coming weeks, about 700,000 Central Provident Fund (CPF) members aged 55 and above will be invited to join the CPF Lifelong Income Scheme For The Elderly (CPF Life). The annuity scheme offers a choice of four plans that pay a monthly income for as long as you live.
These plans offer various combinations of [...]

Types of Professional Financial Advisors

Financial Planners
The term financial planner is a broad-brush term for a true melting pot that includes numerous types of advisors. It is likely (but not a given ) that your IRA advisor will come from this group whose members may carry designations from diverse professional groups such as: FPA (Financial Planning Association), NAIFA (National Association [...]

Personal finance: Women and retirement

One reason is that women live longer than men, so they have more years of retirement to prepare for. Another is that they spend more of their active years out of the workforce – in many cases, raising children or caring for aging relatives – which gives them less opportunity to build up retirement savings [...]