At Apprise Wealth Management, we want to help people make better decisions about money. We also read constantly and like sharing some of our favorite articles each week.
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Here are this week’s articles as well as a brief description of each:
1. 13 Most Frequently Asked Retirement Questions. Is your retirement date approaching? Are you wondering what the next phase of your life might bring? If you want to understand important retirement-related milestones and how to allocate your funds, it is important to assess your personal financial situation and evaluate the best ways to maximize benefits. This article shares some of the key retirement questions (and answers) workers should ask as retirement approaches. Here are a few to get you started:
· How do I retire?
· When can I retire?
· How much money do I need to retire?
· How should my money be invested once I retire?
2. Should You Strive for ‘Inbox Zero’? Managing email takes time. A McKinsey study found that managing email consumes more time than anything else we do at work – it accounts for nearly 30% of our workweek. It also hampers productivity. According to research by computer scientists at Loughborough University in England, email distracts us, and it takes about 64 seconds to get back on track. Even worse, email is mostly noise – email management software company SaneBox reports that nearly two-thirds of the emails we receive are unimportant. (Hmm. That estimate seems low.) On average we receive 121 daily emails, so it can be quite challenging to keep your inbox perfectly clean. Whether Inbox Zero is needless or nirvana depends largely on your goals and your personality. The article offers some tips to help you decide what’s best for you.
3. How to Rollover a 401(k) (and How to Determine If You Should or Not). If you’re like most Americans, you have held multiple jobs. Roughly 50% of Americans also have access to a workplace retirement plan such as a 401(k) or a 403(b). If you switched jobs, what did you do with your old retirement account? You often have the option to leave it with your prior employer, but it may make sense to roll it over and decide where that plan should go next. Some factors to consider include the following:
· You likely will not have the option to contribute to your old 401(k) if you don’t roll it over somewhere
· The number of investment options in your old plan may be limited
· Your old plan may carry high fees
If you’re not sure what to do with your old plan, you can certainly discuss your options with a fee-only financial advisor such as Apprise Wealth Management. The article also shares some questions to consider when making the decision.
4. Why Giving Up Is Sometimes the Best Way to Solve a Problem. Sometimes instead of struggling to find the “correct” solution to a problem, it’s worth the risk of looking foolish by asking, “Why are we even trying to solve this problem, anyway?” The reason is to ask that question is there are times that giving up may be a valid solution to your problem.
5. 5 Behavioral Biases You Should Be Aware of Now. We are emotional creatures. This means that emotions can impact our behavior and decision making. This article shares five behavioral biases we all suffer from that can impact our investment-related decisions and how we can deal with them. If you’re interested in reading more about this subject, you can also check this blog post. As a former Psychology major, behavioral investing is one of my favorite topics. I have also given presentations on the topic on several occasions. (For example, see here for the slides from a presentation I gave on March 16th.)
We hope you find the above posts valuable. If you would like to talk to us about financial topics including your investments, creating a financial plan, saving for college, or saving for your retirement please complete our contact form, and we will be in touch. We can schedule a call, a virtual meeting via Zoom, or a meeting at Apprise Wealth Management’s office in Northern Baltimore County.
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Phil Weiss founded Apprise Wealth Management. He started his financial services career in 1987 working as a tax professional for Deloitte & Touche. For the past 25+ years, he has worked extensively in the areas of financial planning and investment management. Phil is both a CFA charterholder and a CPA.
Located just north of Baltimore, Apprise works with clients face-to-face locally and can also work virtually regardless of location.
