Retirement planning can easily be overlooked while juggling your career, raising children, paying off debt, and enjoying today. In fact, according to a Bankrate survey conducted in 2022, 55 percent of American workers are behind on their retirement savings. If you want to create a financially secure future, however, you need to know what options you have and their benefits. — Creating a retirement plan early in life is essential if you want to have a financially stable retirement. For example, by diverting some of your paychecks to a tax-advantaged retirement savings plan, you can grow your wealth exponentially to achieve peace of mind.

Even though we’re living in an increasingly cashless world, there are still times when you need to withdraw cash. Case in point, my local coffee shop is cash-only. That means whenever I’ve craving one of their delicious cappuccinos, I have to visit the ATM first. — Unfortunately, when it comes to withdrawing funds from your annuity, it’s not as simple as accessing an ATM and taking cash out of your checking account.

In the past, buying an annuity was a lot of work. The first step toward determining whether an annuity is right for your retirement plan is to do a little research. In most cases, the first step is to answer important questions such as: What is an annuity? Which type…

You may have heard that highly productive people wake up at 4 am, run 10 miles, and attain enlightenment before sunrise. But that’s not always true. Rather, they come in many varieties ranging from late risers, early risers, singles, couples, and family members. — So what are the most common traits of highly productive people? They are constantly working on optimizing themselves, regardless of whether they are entrepreneurs, employees, or both. As part of self-optimization, one of the keys is to build strong habits. By adopting the right habits, you can save time, energy…

Saving money is a top priority for many people, and with good reason. It can be challenging to make ends meet, especially if you have a lot of financial obligations or are living on a tight budget. The good news is that there are many different ways to save money, and with a little bit of planning and effort, you can find ways to stretch your budget further and reach your financial goals. — Here are some of the best ways to save money in 2023:

Imagine that you’ve been invited to join a friend on a weekend getaway. The only problem? Your dog has to stay home. Thankfully, you can solve this problem by hiring a pet sitter. — Of course, you aren’t going to have anyone watch over your four-legged friend. You’re going to ask them some questions first. Primarily, what’s their experience, and how often they’ll be able to walk your dog? You might get asked similar questions by lenders when you apply for loans and credit…

A tumbling stock market and higher interest rates are forcing consumers to buy annuities. — According to LIMRA, a trade group for the insurance industry, annuity sales in the third quarter of 2022 approached $80 billion, just beating the $79.4 billion record set in Q2. It’s an impressive 27% increase over last year. As in 2008, purchasing decisions seem largely driven by concern about stock…

You may be running on fumes by mid-December. Your schedule is probably a little hectic between buying gifts, decorating, attending holiday parties, cooking, and wrapping up your end-of-year work obligations. — During the holidays, it’s not surprising to find many people’s stress levels increasing rather than decreasing, according to YouGov America. Additionally, one in three Americans will suffer a case of “Festive Burnout” before the 25th of December.

It is important to consider price when shopping for a gift. It becomes especially important when your holiday shopping list is long. Along with your personal finances and the number of people you’re shopping for, you can stay within budget in a number of ways. Since the holidays are already…