Most employer 401(k) plans allow mid-year changes to the deferral election percentage. Before the bonus pay period, raise the deferral rate high enough to funnel as much of the bonus as possible into the 401(k), up to the annual limit.
Trump Accounts are designed to be tax-advantaged, long-term savings vehicles for families to leverage on behalf of children born in the US between 2025 and 2028. These accounts include a $1,000 government deposit when they're opened. Families can also make annual contributions of up to $5,000, which can be invested until the child turns 18.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer stated that the proposed rule aims to fulfill President Trump's promise for a new golden age by fostering a retirement system that allows more Americans to retire with dignity.
Thanks to a provision in the Secure 2.0 retirement legislation, high-income earners (with $150,000 or more in FICA income in the prior year) who are over 50 and investing in 401(k) or other company retirement plans must make catch-up contributions to their plans' Roth option, rather than traditional tax-deferred contributions, starting this year.
Choosing a financial advisor is one of the most important money-related decisions you can make, yet many people approach it casually or skip the vetting process altogether. With countless professionals offering financial advice, titles that sound impressive, and complex fee structures, it's easy to lose transparency in the process. In reality, the quality of guidance you receive can vary dramatically depending on who you hire and how they're compensated.
The harder mistakes to catch are the ones that look fine on paper but fall apart the moment you stop working. These are unquestionably the planning failures that will only reveal themselves after the paycheck ends and you're living off the portfolio. Recent data from Nationwide's Retirement Institute shows that 55% of people who retired in the last five years regret how they saved, and only 40% said they were on track with their original budget.
For decades, retirement planning has assumed inflation would average around 2-2.5% annually, and financial planners built withdrawal strategies, income projections, and spending budgets around this number. Then 2021 happened, then 2022 happened, and suddenly the world saw inflation numbers hovering around 7%, 8%, and even 9% depending on where and how it was measured. Thankfully, inflation has cooled off from those levels, and today it's hovering right around 3%, rather than even higher, even though the Fed did promise a 2% inflationary number.
Many baby boomers who are avidly focused on investing for their own retirement may also be looking to invest for their loved ones. Whether that's in the form of passing down some of their wealth at some day to their heirs (which means the better they do, the better their kids and grandkids will do), or simply adding funds to their loved one's 529 college savings plans, there are plenty of ways to invest in future generations.
A traditional IRA allows you to contribute with pre-tax dollars and pay taxes on withdrawals in retirement, while a Roth IRA allows you to take tax-free withdrawals as a retiree, although you will have to contribute with after-tax dollars. Provided your income isn't too high, you can make tax-advantaged contributions to these accounts this year, up to a total limit of $7,500 if you're under 50 or a limit of $8,600 if you're 50 or older and eligible for catch-up contributions.