As I wrote about the contribution limits for 401(k)s rising in 2023 a few weeks ago I was reminded that a lot of people don't understand the benefit of 401(k)s. I mean, I think most American adults understand it at a high level: "Investing money in a 401(k) saves on taxes, so you have more money at the end." But understanding the details of how ( Read more... )

The contribution limit for 401(k) accounts is increasing for 2023. The government has upped the individual contribution limit a whopping $2,000, from $20,500 to $22,500. The catch-up contribution limit for employees 50+ rises $1k to $7,500. That means for me, as a 50+ person, I get to jam an additional $3k in my account next year.


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Thanksgiving '22 Travelog #8
Near Harrisburg, PA - Fri, 25 Nov 2022, 4pm

Today's Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, supposedly the biggest shopping day of the year. I say supposedly because I don't know if it still is. I haven't gone out to a store to see how busy they are. I don't want to go shopping. I've barely even read the voluminous ( Read more... )

Treasury Bills. Wow, talk about boring topics. This one's like pressing the snooze button on your alarm, right? I used to think so, too, but recently I discovered they're useful right now. As I've noted in recent blogs about buying CDs and Series I savings bonds it's important in this era of high inflation and rising interest rates to find a better ( Read more... )

Recently I bought a few CDs. ...No, not compact disc CDs. I do still buy those, though only a few a year nowadays. I'm talking about another seeming relic of the past, certificates of deposit CDs ( Read more... )

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics today published the much anticipated consumer price index (CPI) for October. Economists' consensus was that it'd come in at 7.9%. That'd be a high rate, though less than June's 9.1%, a 40 year peak, or even last month's 8.2% level. Well, the figure came in slightly less bad than expected: only 7.7%. But Wall Street ( Read more... )

Six months ago I wrote about buying US savings bonds. It was the first time I'd ever bought some. This week Hawk bought some, too.

Yes, savings bonds, the tool my grandparents used for saving money decades ago, are still around. The classic types of bond introduced in the 1930s and 40s were joined by Series I Savings Bonds in 1998. I-bonds are ( Read more... )

Several weeks ago I bought some US Savings Bonds. Yes, the tool my grandparents used for savings is still around! And it's still relevant, too.

Just how old-fashioned are savings bonds? Consider that in the movie Captain America the third act (using a Shakespearean 5-act model) is all about the title character hawking savings bonds in, like, 1943 ( Read more... )

"Has anyone noticed recently the market is down 20% this year?" a manager asked on a sales team call this morning. It was a rhetorical question, of course. B2B salespeople are very aware of economic news, and the stock market tumbling this year has only been news, like, every day this year ( Read more... )

Read almost any article about 401(k) retirement plans in the US and you'll see negatives in the story if not in the headline. Americans aren't taking advantage of their 401(k) plans, they're not saving enough in them, they're missing out on company matching funds, they're given weak investing choices or choose under-performing funds, etc. Using 401 ( Read more... )