Topic: Financial Planning

Would You Like a Mortgage With Your Mocha?

Who says banking has to be dull? Not the executives at ING Direct, who are banking on powerful technology and clever marketing to make a radical change in an industry that needs it. The result: In less than three years, they've attracted more than a million customers and $10 billion in assets. And they serve a pretty mean cappuccino.READ MORE›

Health Insurance and Your Lenses

How many people do you know who give much thought to their lenses when thinking about health insurance? READ MORE›

Tired? Retire

A study by Boston College's Center for Retirement Research has found that people with 401(k) plans work more than a year longer than those with traditional pensions. Commenting on the research, an Ernst & Young partner says that ...READ MORE›

Nuts and Bolts of the HSAs

It’s pretty much a given that when it comes to health care the premiums will keep going up. READ MORE›

How to Prevent and Treat Student Loan Debt

Thinking about going back to school for a new career? It's a tempting option during tough economic times. But if your career path doesn’t work out as planned, your resulting debts may end up limiting your options instead of widening ...READ MORE›

The Roth IRA Conversion - What You Should Know

One of the hottest topics in the tax world today deals with conversions.  I’m not talking about changing religions, although some will argue that given the economic conditions today, more people are praying than ever ...READ MORE›

Former Enron Exec Shares Her Experience In New Book

Colorado resident and former Enron Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Community Relations, Cindy Kay Olson, shares both the keys to many of Enron’s successes while revealing details of the scandal from her point of ...READ MORE›

Best Savings Rates are found Online

It's not a topic everyone wants to read about, but finding the best ways to save money without paying alot is important. Most of the best savings rates can be found online, not by your lender. Read here about how to do that. READ MORE›

Get Laziness on Your Side

How to sway people's decisions with the gentlest of nudges.READ MORE›

• Judge the Nudge

House Democrats considering doing WHAT to 401(k)s?

This from Workforce Management’s e-newslettter came through our inbox this week and the first reaction we had was “What? Why?” Take a look: House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks Powerful House ...READ MORE›

Carlos Hank Rhon

Carlos Hank Rhon and BankingREAD MORE›

Hennion and Walsh News: Investors Clamor For ETFs in Retirement Account

Investors "are asking about them all of the time, and they want them added to their portfolios,"said Kevin Mahn, chief investment officer at Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. of Parsippany, N.J., which manages about $300 million.READ MORE›

Hennion and Walsh News: The Retirement Angle

"One of the four difficulties faced by those who would like greater inclusion of ETFs in 401(k)s is the fact that most recordkeepers and TPAs cannot process ETFs as they stand right now through their own platforms, says Mahn, who is also chief investment strategist at Hennion & Walsh Asset Management in Parsippany, New Jersey."READ MORE›

Why Black Investors Trail Their White Counterparts

The 11th annual Ariel/ Schwab Black Investors Survey results were released last week, examining the investing habits of black and white Americans. Some interesting results…READ MORE›

The Many Flavors of Utah Retirement Plans

Besides the long-term benefit of providing for your future, setting up a retirement plan also has the immediate gratification of cutting taxes. Here is a closer look at a range of retirement plans for yourself and your employees.READ MORE›

Illinois HSAs Rock

The twenty first century calls for innovative changes in health care across the country. Americans are now able to take advantage of a Health Savings Account, something just a little different than traditional health care insurance. READ MORE›

Kiva Lets You Fund a Student's Education, $25 at a Time

The pioneer in micro-loans expands beyond business and applies its crowd-funded model to education.READ MORE›

MyRichUncle is Out of Cash

MyRichUncle was an intriguing startup student loan company with an innovative, white-knight approach when I wrote about them in the 2006 Fast Company 50. When I talked to them, the two 20-something founders seemed cocky, but sincere. ...READ MORE›

Your 401 (k) Is Making a Statement

What's the most powerful symbol of a troubling year in finance? There are many candidates, from disgraced Wall Street analysts to CEOs in handcuffs. But few symbols rival the unopened 401(k) statement -- a quarterly window into the personal wealth of millions of Americans. Now, if people would just look through that window.READ MORE›

Time.com -- " Why It's Time to Retire the 401(k)"

"...upgrading the 401(k) alone won't save the nation's retirement-savings problem. Here's why: Remember, the biggest factor in whether the 401(k) works as designed has to do with when you retire. If the market rises that year, you're ...READ MORE›

Understanding Health Insurance Options Isn't Easy

There are millions of Americans who have no clue what options are available when it comes to health care insurance. Plain and simple, everyone will need health care insurance at some point in their life.READ MORE›

Year-End Tax Planning Advice for Private-Practice Physical Therapists

Strategies to Keep More of What You MakeREAD MORE›

Illinois Health Insurance Options May Be Hard to Understand

Despite the fact there are many health insurance agents in the marketplace, there are still millions of uninsured Americans.READ MORE›

Financial Aid for Moms Going Back to School

Single moms must not drop their dreams of a career or returning to school. But one thing that makes moms drop this issue is the bureaucracy and the tons of papers that need to be filled in. That paper is required in order to get a student loan. But this should not be like that. Things should go much smoother.READ MORE›

Going Once, Going Twice ...

An Enron rubber ducky. An unopened code of ethics. A copy of "Money in Motion," a 401(k) booklet printed in 1999. Those are just a few of the Enron relics we bought on eBay following the company's bankruptcy filing. View the aftermath auctions here.READ MORE›