Why Not to Quit Stocks Altogether - Kiplinger

Why Not to Quit Stocks Altogether - Kiplinger

When an otherwise dull report on mutual fund flows becomes the lead story in Sunday’s New York Times, it behooves investors to pay attention. Citing data from the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund industry’s trade group, the Times’ August 21 article reported that investors withdrew a “staggering” $33 billion from domestic stock funds in the first seven months of 2010, and it raised the question of whether the numbers suggested a long-term shift

12 New Rules for Your Money - Kiplinger

12 New Rules for Your Money - Kiplinger

12 New Rules for Your Money

In this era of high unemployment, flat home prices and do-it-yourself retirement savings, some traditional rules of saving and investing are due for an overhaul.

Secrets to Maximizing Social Security - Kiplinger

Secrets to Maximizing Social Security - Kiplinger

It's official: High unemployment and a resulting decline in payroll-tax collections have taken a toll on the Social Security program. Benefits will exceed revenues for the first time in 2010 -- six years ahead of previous projections -- according to the Social Security Trustees' 2010 report released Thursday. But the nation's vital retirement program is expected to slip back into the black -- at least temporarily -- when the economy recovers, before posting increasingly larger deficits as more baby-boomers reach retirement age.

There will still be plenty of reserve funds to continue paying full benefits for nearly 30 years. But without reforms, the trust fund is projected to run dry around 2037, when tax revenues will be sufficient to pay only about three-fourths of promised benefits. "The sooner action is taken, the more options will be available and the fairer reforms will be to our children and grandchildren," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in response to the trustees' report. Reform proposals include raising the retirement age for full benefits to 70, changing the formula for calculating annual inflation adjustments of benefits, and lifting the cap on the amount of wages -- currently $106,800 -- subject to Social Security taxes.