Quarterly Newsletter
2nd Quarter 2010
Drawing Down Your Retirement Savings
As you approach retirement, prudently managing your finances takes on even greater importance. After all, delaying retirement or returning to work may not be an option.Understanding your expenses and income sources in retirement is a key first step. Start by calculating how much money you will need every month for your regular expenses, such as mortgage or rent, utilities, food and other bills.
[Read More]Protect Your Home for Storm Season
The hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30. Take the following steps now to protect your home (and your pocketbook).
[Read More]Less Clutter in Your Life
You can view your ICMA-RC transaction confirmations and quarterly statements online. Sign up at icmarc.org/paperless.
[Read More]Around ICMA-RC
ICMA-RC just launched thedreambigsite.org, a new online site that lets you see what others are saying about saving and retirement.
[Read More]S&P 500 Index Sector Performance
Similar to the stock market as a whole, performance returns in individual sectors within the markets go up and down. For the 12 months ended April 30, 2010, the S&P 500 stock index rose 38.85 percent and every sector posted a positive return.
[Read More]Strategies for Paying College Bills
For families with college students, the end of summer usually signals the time to move your student—and bring out the checkbook to pay a giant tuition bill. When deciding which accounts to tap for college costs, it’s important to keep some key rules in mind so you don’t jeopardize possible tax breaks.
[Read More]Investing Spotlight
The stock market’s unpredictable swings over the past three years illustrate how difficult it is to try to time the market. The return of the S&P 500 stock index—including dividends paid—declined by nearly 43 percent from its high in 2007 until March 9, 2009. But then the S&P 500 gained 65 percent from March 9, 2009, until the end of April 2010. If an investor left the market during the downturn, he or she would have missed out on the possible gain during the recovery.
[Read More]Ask ICMA-RC
The new law requires insurers to let children stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until age 26, even if they graduate from college before then, as long as the child doesn’t have a job that offers health insurance. The adult child doesn’t need to be a dependent for tax purposes to qualify for the extended coverage, doesn’t need to live at home, and can even be married (although the law does not extend the coverage to the child’s spouse and their children).
[Read More]Protect Your Identity This Summer
When you’re taking steps to protect your home from burglars before you leave for vacation, don’t neglect precautions to protect against identity theft while you’re traveling.
[Read More]How Much Emergency Fund Do You Need?
It's always important to have an emergency fund, some standby cash you can tap so you don’t have to go into debt or pay a penalty to dip into retirement savings to cover unexpected expenses. And it’s doubly important in a volatile economy like this one, especially if you worry that you might lose a job. How much money should you keep in the account?
[Read More]