Personal Finance Education at the Class Reunion

I’ve returned from my 40th high school reunion weekend. I had a fabulous experience, nostalgic and otherwise. Read more

Seeking New Investment Options in a 401(k) Plan

Recently I wrote a piece on how a 401(k) plan can make lousy retirement plan. One of the reasons I cited is the lack of high quality investment options in the plan. The missing qualities can include low-cost, variety, and suitability to changing market conditions. Read more

My Life as a Volunteer Tax Preparer – Week 9

I had five appointments this week. The first was a no-call, no-show. I hate that, because I could have stayed at the office and worked on projects that I can bill to clients. I brought my laptop with me to try to get some more work done but there was no public wireless network for me to connect to. Read more

Will Your Retirement Nest Egg Be “Puny”?

Financial Planners are Not Happy with Retirement Planning by U.S. Workers

I don’t really enjoy starting the weekend with bad news but it seems that financial planning professionals are now openly complaining about their clients.  They are complaining about working adults of all ages.  They seem to be particularly upset with baby boomers, the bulk of whom are scheduled to start retiring in 2011.  Why?  Because we are all grossly unprepared for what is to come, as in too much life span left at the end of the retirement nest egg.  Mr. ToughMoneyLove wants to explore this a little further. Read more

Welcome MSN Money Readers to Tough Money Love

This week the Smart Spending blog on MSN Money had some nice things to say about my Ten Warning Signs of a Normal Financial Lifepost.  I know that a lot of readers of the Smart Spending blog came my way as a result.  I am glad you did and hope you will come back.   Mr. ToughMoneyLove may be “deliciously snarky” as I was called by Smart Spending but I believe you will find some useful information about personal finance and retirement planning mixed in with the hard truth attitude.

Thanks again for visiting.

Using Your Health Savings Account as a Super Roth Investment Vehicle

I forgot to tell my readers that the Free Money Finance blog recently published my guest post on using your health savings account (or HSA) as a super-Roth investment vehicle. You can read it at the excellent FMF blog along with some excellent comments and feedback from FMF readers.  Check it out – you may want to give this different retirement planning strategy a try.

Check the Health of Your Company Pension Plan

If you are one of the dwindling number of employees who have vested rights in a private sector pension plan (also known as a defined benefit plan), you should make it a habit to periodically check the financial health of the plan.  Why should you do this?  Because many prospective retirees are counting on receiving all of the pension benefits that they have been promised by their employers. Read more

Actuaries Urge Immediate Action to Save Social Security Benefits

The American Association of Actuaries today held a press conference urging immediate action to delay or prevent the complete collapse of the Social Security retirement system.  Read more

Saving Money by Slowing the Work Lunch Cash Drain

This post is about money that is lost (and that can be saved) just by being more disciplined in deciding what and how you are going to eat lunch in the workplace. Read more

The New Social Security Benefit Calculator as a Reality Check

Baby boomers and others thinking ahead about retirement have requested and have waited patiently for the yearly delivery of their hard copy Social Security earnings record and benefit estimate.  My statement arrives each September.   The benefit estimate information in this document can be useful in several different ways. Read more