Robert R. Johnson, Ph.D., CFA, CAIA, is a professor of finance at Creighton University and chairman and CEO of Economic Index Associates, LLC.| Bankrate
Brian Beers is the managing editor for the Wealth team at Bankrate. He oversees editorial coverage of banking, investing, the economy and all things money.| Bankrate
Bankrate.com provides a FREE 401k or Roth IRA calculator and other 401(k) calculators to help consumers determine the best option for retirement possible.'| Bankrate
A family financial plan can steer your family toward financial success, helping you achieve your life goals and minimizing the sacrifices you need to make to reach them.| Bankrate
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act includes 30 provisions, many of which provide new opportunities to save, whether you’re three or 30 years away from exiting the workforce. The SECURE Act’s passing means it’s now the biggest legislative change to the retirement system in more than a decade.| Bankrate
The Roth IRA is a retirement saver's dream. The Roth IRA five-year rule mandates a five-year waiting period for tax-free withdrawals of earnings.| Bankrate
If you have reached age 73, you must take required minimum distributions from your IRA. Use this table as a guide.| Bankrate
One wrong decision can lead to expensive consequences for an inherited IRA. Here are seven tips for managing your account.| Bankrate
Brian Baker covers investing and retirement for Bankrate. He is a CFA Charterholder and previously worked in equity research at a buyside investment firm. Baker is passionate about helping people make sense of complicated financial topics so that they can better plan for their financial futures.| Bankrate
If you leave a job, it's important to consider your options for rolling over your 401(k) — and know that your employer can decide for you.| Bankrate
Is a personal loan a good idea for you? Personal loans are a quick source of cash, but how you use them can help or hurt your finances.| Bankrate
Payday loans can be tempting when you're low on cash, but they can create a vicious cycle of debt.| Bankrate
A home equity line of credit, or HELOC, is a second mortgage that uses your home as collateral to let you borrow up to a certain amount over time, rather than an upfront lump sum.| Bankrate
Typically, a delay in collecting Social Security payments pays off for recipients. But not always. Consider these factors first.| Bankrate
Social Security is a program run by the federal government that provides income for a wide range of Americans.| Bankrate
Learn how the 2026 Social Security COLA affects your retirement income. Get insights on the estimated 2.7% increase for the upcoming year.| Bankrate
Bankrate.com provides a FREE social security estimator and other benefits calculators to help consumers estimate how much to expect from Social Security benefits.| Bankrate
If you’re planning for retirement, one of your key questions is how much you can earn from Social Security — what’s the maximum you can get?| Bankrate
Social Security provides a secure fixed income to retirees and others, helping many to afford their golden years.| Bankrate
Since February 2020, consumer prices have jumped 24.3 percent, a Bankrate analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.| Bankrate
Make your retirement plan solid with tips, advice and tools on individual retirement accounts, 401k plans and more.| Bankrate
Explore the latest insights on year-over-year rate data and consumer sentiment trends| Bankrate
A high-yield savings account is like a standard savings account but offers a higher yield. Read on to see if it’s the right savings account for you.| Bankrate
Starting an emergency fund is often emphasized, but we don't talk as much about when you should tap into that money. Here's what you need to know.| Bankrate
Learn from Bankrate about smart strategies for determining how much to save monthly. Explore key factors impacting savings goals for a secure financial future.| Bankrate
Economists tell us their forecast for the job market, inflation, the Federal Reserve, economic growth and more in the year ahead.| Bankrate
The world’s wealthiest people have a few things in common, but one of the most prominent is that the 10 richest have more than $100 billion to their name.| Bankrate
Use our free mortgage calculator to estimate your monthly mortgage payments. Account for interest rates and break down payments in an easy to use amortization schedule.| Bankrate
As you compare Roth vs. traditional IRAs, know that it isn’t an either-or decision. Both can be used to increase retirement savings.| Bankrate
Financial advisors can assist with many aspects of your financial life. Bankrate evaluated dozens of firms and identified the best to consider for your wealth management and planning needs.| Bankrate
SIMPLE IRAs are a great option for small businesses in search of a straightforward and inexpensive retirement plan. Here's how a SIMPLE IRA works.| Bankrate
Smart asset allocation involves creating a portfolio that optimizes your long-term return and minimizes your risks while you achieve it.| Bankrate
Tax-loss harvesting gives you an opportunity to score a tax break on a poor investment and offset other taxable gains.| Bankrate
If you're in the market for a robo-advisor, read our reviews to help determine which robo-advisor is for you.| Bankrate
Wealthfront ranks among the best robo-advisors, offering sophisticated portfolio management, a top cash management account and some of the most useful planning tools. Wealthfront scores big in all major areas – then somehow does it all at low cost, too.| Bankrate
You might initially think of broker Charles Schwab only as an option for “do-it-yourself” investors, but the dean of discount offers up a highly competent robo-advisor, too: Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.| Bankrate
M1 Finance straddles the line between broker and robo-advisor, between letting you run wild and giving you basic tools and portfolios that can guide you. It’s in a strange limbo, but those who fit the mix of features offered at M1 Finance may find it especially useful and won’t be able to imagine going elsewhere.| Bankrate
Portfolio rebalancing acts as a tune-up for your investments. It ensures your risk tolerance aligns with your long-term financial goals.| Bankrate
A good budgeting app can help you better manage your finances by showing how your money is spent and where it can be saved.| Bankrate
Investors like gold for many reasons, and it has attributes that make the commodity a good counterpoint to traditional securities such as stocks and bonds.| Bankrate
When inflation is high, it’s good to reassess your investment portfolio to hedge against the possibility of surging prices. Bankrate can help guide you through managing investments during inflation.| Bankrate
Hope for inflation relief is quickly fading, as supply chains remain mangled, labor markets grow increasingly tighter and prices keep ratcheting higher, so much that they rose in January to levels not seen since February 1982. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine could have secondary effects that drive up prices on energy, oil, raw materials and other commodities even more.| Bankrate
Fed officials back in September expected that they’d lift interest rates one more time. Will they be able to follow through?| Bankrate
Using Bankrate's student loan calculator can help you create a student loan repayment strategy that’s right for you.| Bankrate
While it was originally set up as a way to pay for the spiraling costs of college, a 529 plan can be used to pay off student loan debt.| Bankrate
Wondering how to fund your child's education? A 529 college savings plan is a great way to help your family cut down on student loan costs.| Bankrate
Wondering how to find a financial advisor? Bankrate can help you choose the financial advisor that will help you reach your investment goals.| Bankrate
A 529 plan is an education savings plan that allows you to save for qualified education expenses. It allows contributions to grow tax-deferred, and any money may be withdrawn tax-free if used for qualified education expenses at eligible institutions. Here's how to pick the best 529 plans.| Bankrate
Learn what you need to know about the contribution limits for 529 education plans, including state caps and tax implications.| Bankrate
Trading stocks involves a lot of hard work and extensive research. Bankrate's guide can help you trade stocks with confidence.| Bankrate
Learn about Bank of America’s invite-only incentive program that can help you save and boost your credit card rewards.| Bankrate
While identifying these investment trends in advance is difficult, tuning out the noise can reveal what's to come, possibly resulting in significant gains. Here we highlight five of the most popular trends right now that show tremendous potential for growth.| Bankrate
Net income is a measure of how much money a person or business makes after accounting for all costs. Here's what you need to know.| Bankrate
One way to start investing in real estate without the need for a large chunk of capital is to buy shares of a real estate investment trust, or REIT.| Bankrate
When you’re selling your home, professional staging can help it look its best. But how much does it cost, and is it worth the price?| Bankrate
Careless impulse buying can quickly lead to credit card debt. Understand the common triggers and form safe spending habits.| Bankrate
Is it a good time to sell a house? Interest rates, prices, inventory and a potential recession are all factors to bear in mind.| Bankrate
Here are some of the best no-fee mortgage lenders in 2025.| Bankrate
Bankrate tracks the CA home insurance market as providers limit coverage.| Bankrate
New Bankrate data reveals the gap between rental costs and mortgage payments has widened in 38 metros compared to last year.| Bankrate
Fixing up a home in bad shape is not as easy as it seems on TV. Here are a few tips to consider if you're planning to buy a fixer-upper.| Bankrate
Seven out of 10 Americans say they would buy their current home again, however, the ongoing costs of homeownership come as a surprise to some.| Bankrate
Even in a seller’s market, you can position your home to bring in the best price possible. Here are 10 home-selling tips to try.| Bankrate
Comps are a key tool used to determine a home’s value. Here’s how to find real estate comps for your house, or a house you're looking to buy.| Bankrate
The housing market’s astronomical gains the past few years made increasing your home’s value relatively easy.| Bankrate
A home's fair market value, or the price open-market buyers would be willing to pay, is an important factor in real estate.| Bankrate
Whether you’re selling or buying a home, a CMA helps give you a feel for the fair market value of the property.| Bankrate
Determining home value is an inexact science. Online valuation tools can help you get the whole pricing picture.| Bankrate
Here are 8 easy ways to increase your home's value: renovation and improvement projects that provide the most bang for your buck.| Bankrate
The process of buying a home can take about four months, and potentially longer if you’re moving to an area you’re unfamiliar with.| Bankrate
The real estate market can be hard to navigate. Here are 12 of the most crucial questions to ask a Realtor when buying a house.| Bankrate
Ready to become a first-time homebuyer? Know what to expect with this checklist to guide you through the homebuying journey.| Bankrate
The cost of living adjustment, or COLA, is a key concept to know for understanding Social Security benefits and how they rise over time.| Bankrate
How do interest rates affect home prices? And how are rising interest rates impacting the housing market today? Find out more here.| Bankrate
Even major Lone Star State cities like Dallas, Austin and Houston have a surprisingly affordable cost of living.| Bankrate
Florida’s beaches and sunshine have lured plenty of new residents since the pandemic, which helps to keep living costs high.| Bankrate
Home prices in San Francisco are on the decline, but don’t let that fool you — they’re still extremely high.| Bankrate
We used five primary categories to determine our Best Places to Live lists, this methodology explains the data and where it came from.| Bankrate
High-income individuals that can't contribute directly to a Roth IRA can still contribute using a backdoor option.| Bankrate
The Roth 401(k) and the traditional 401(k) offer different types of tax advantages. Choosing the right plan is a big decision for workers.| Bankrate
The SECURE Act 2.0 became law in the last days of 2022, and the act provides new assistance for retirement savers, small businesses and many others.| Bankrate
A Roth IRA is one of the most popular ways for individuals to save for retirement, and it offers some big tax advantages.| Bankrate
If you’re leaving your job for a new employer, it’s important to address rolling over your 401(k). The wrong decision could cost you.| Bankrate
Hardship withdrawals allow the owner of a 401(k) or similar retirement plan to withdraw money from the account to meet a dire financial need.| Bankrate
A Roth IRA offers many benefits to retirement savers. The Roth IRA allows workers to contribute to a tax-advantaged account, let the money grow tax-free and never pay taxes again on withdrawals.| Bankrate
In certain hardship situations, the IRS lets you take withdrawals before age 59 1/2 without a penalty. Bankrate has what you need to know.| Bankrate
A required minimum distribution, or RMD, is an amount of money that must be withdrawn from some retirement plans the year after you turn 73.| Bankrate
Experts don’t recommend raiding your retirement plan for cash if you can avoid it, but you can tap your 401(k) plan through a 401(k) loan.| Bankrate
Social Security offers a monthly benefit check to many kinds of recipients. But the amount can differ depending on the type of recipient.| Bankrate
Thomas is a well-rounded financial professional, with over 20 years of experience in investments, corporate finance, and accounting. His investment experience includes oversight of a $4 billion portfolio for an insurance group. Varied finance and accounting work includes the preparation of financial statements and budgets, the development of multiyear financial forecasts, credit analyses, and the evaluation of capital budgeting proposals. In a consulting capacity, he has assisted individuals ...| Bankrate
The solo 401(k) might be the best retirement option for one-person businesses, because of how quickly you can amass money in the plan.| Bankrate
A SEP IRA is a tax-deferred retirement plan for anyone who is self-employed, owns a business, employs others, or earns freelance income. Here's everything you need to know.| Bankrate
Betterment is one of the largest independent robo-advisors, and its wealth of features shows why. It offers two service plans, one with all the core functions (investing and cash management, rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting) and one that takes it up a level with unlimited access to human advisors.| Bankrate
Use Bankrate.com's free tools, expert analysis, and award-winning content to make smarter financial decisions. Explore personal finance topics including credit cards, investments, identity protection, autos, retirement, credit reports, and so much more.| Bankrate
Bankrate principal writer and editor James F. Royal, Ph.D., covers investing and wealth management. His work has been cited by CNBC, the Washington Post, The New York Times and more.| Bankrate
Bankrate analyzed dozens of brokerage firms to help you find the best brokers for online stock trading. Here are our top picks due to their low costs, strong research and education offering as well as high-quality customer experience.| Bankrate
Warren Buffett has been thinking about inflation for a long time. With prices sharply on the rise, here are some of Buffett’s best suggestions to investors on how to combat inflation.| Bankrate
Mutual funds and ETFs can both offer many benefits for your portfolio, including instant diversification at a low cost.| Bankrate
Low-cost index funds are a great way for both beginning and advanced investors to invest in the stock market. Learn how to invest in index funds.| Bankrate
Here’s what you need to know about 529 plans and how to use them to achieve your future college savings goals for your children.| Bankrate