Articles
Welcome to our research center! We've put together a library of information on important financial topics that we believe you'll find helpful.
Simply click on one of the general financial topics below and you'll find a selection of easy-to-understand information sheets about related financial concepts and strategies. This information is updated regularly to reflect the latest facts, figures, legislation, and economic trends.
Estates & Trusts
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What Key Estate Planning Tools Should I Know About?
Wills and trusts allow you to spell out how you would like your property distributed, but they also go beyond that.
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How Can a Living Trust Help Me Control My Estate?
A living trust can help control the distribution of your estate upon death.
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What Are the Pitfalls of Probate?
The probate process can be lengthy and complex. There are strategies you can use to help avoid the probate process.
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How Can My Gift Benefit Me and the Charity?
To retain the tax advantages associated with charitable giving, your gift must be made to a qualified organization.
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How Will I Pay Estate Taxes?
If you believe your estate will be subject to estate taxes, consider how your heirs will pay the bill.
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What Gifting Strategies Are Available to Me?
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of different gifting strategies available for planned giving.
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How Can I Benefit from a Charitable Remainder Trust?
A designated income beneficiary could receive payment of a specified amount from a charitable remainder trust.
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What Is the History of the Federal Estate Tax?
Careful estate planning is still one of the most important ways to manage and protect your assets for your heirs.
Retirement
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What Is a SIMPLE?
The SIMPLE plan may appeal to small business owners as it is easy to set up, administer, and allows for a tax deduction.
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What Is an IRA Rollover?
If you leave a job or retire, you should consider your options regarding your employer retirement plan assets.
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What Is a 403(b) Plan?
A 403(b) plan is a tax-deferred retirement savings plan that can only be offered by a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity.
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What Does the Changing Pension Landscape Mean for Retirement?
With the changing pension landscape, it is important to take charge of your own retirement security.
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What Is a 1035 Exchange?
A Section 1035 exchange is a tax-free exchange of an existing annuity contract or life insurance policy for a new one.
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What Is a Traditional IRA?
If you do not participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you might consider a traditional IRA.
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What Is a 401(k) Plan?
401(k) employer-sponsored retirement plans have many benefits, including that the funds accumulate tax-deferred.
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How Should I Manage My Retirement Plan?
Employer-sponsored retirement plans are more important than ever, but managing the assets can be confusing.
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Save Now or Save Later?
If you start saving for retirement sooner, the more money you are likely to accumulate and possibly retire sooner.
Tax Planning
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What Is the Capital Gain Tax?
Capital gains are profits realized from the sale of assets; a tax is triggered only when an asset is sold, not held.
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What Is the Gift Tax?
The federal gift tax applies to gifts of property or money while the donor is living.
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How Much Money Can I Put Into My IRA or Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan?
IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans are subject to annual contribution limits set by the federal government.
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What Is a Required Minimum Distribution?
Required minimum distribution is the annual amount that must be withdrawn from a qualified retirement plan/account.
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What Are the Tax Benefits of Charitable Trusts?
For the grantor, there are a few potential tax benefits that can come with setting up a charitable trust.
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What Happens If I Withdraw Money from My Tax-Deferred Investments Before Age 59½
Tax-deferred retirement account withdrawals before age 59½ generally triggers a 10% federal income tax penalty.
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What Is Tax Deferral?
There can be a substantial benefit to deferring taxes as long as possible.
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How Can I Benefit from Tax-Advantaged Investments?
Many traditional tax-advantaged investment strategies have gone away, but there are still some alternatives.
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What Tax Deductions Are Still Available to Me?
Changes to the tax code have left a few key deductions for itemizers, like medical, dental and some business expenses.
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What Tax-Advantaged Alternatives Are Available?
While stable, CDs can create an income tax bill. Fixed annuities and municipal bonds can offer tax advantages.
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Is There Such a Thing as a Tax-Free Investment?
It's important to understand tax-exempt vehicles when establishing a comprehensive tax planning strategy.
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How Can I Keep More of My Mutual Fund Profits?
Want to keep more of your mutual fund profits? You may be interested in strategies to help lower your tax liability.
Investing
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What Is an Exchange-Traded Fund?
ETFs have unique attributes and attempt to track all types of indexes, industries, or commodities.
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How Are Growth and Value Stocks Different?
The labels growth and value reflect different approaches that can be used when making investment decisions.
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What Is Diversification?
An important element to successful investing is to manage investment risk while maintaining the potential for growth.
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What Types of Bonds Are Available?
Bonds are issued by many entities and share many characteristics, each type of bond has certain benefits and risks.
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What Is a Stock Index?
Stock market indexes can be useful benchmarks for gauging the performance of an investment portfolio over time.
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What Is a Mutual Fund?
A mutual fund is a collection of stocks, bonds, and other securities with certain benefits and risks.
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What Is a Closed-End Fund?
With closed-end funds, investors pool their money together to purchase a professionally managed portfolio of stocks and/or bonds.
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What Are the Different Classes of Assets?
There are five broad asset classes that you should take into consideration when constructing your investment portfolio.
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What Is Asset Allocation?
Asset allocation is a method used to help manage investment risk; it does not guarantee a profit or protect against investment loss.
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529 Lesson Plan: High Scores for 529 Plans
529 plans are tax-advantaged savings plans that generally allow people of any income level to contribute.
Cash Management
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How Do Money Market Mutual Funds Work?
Money market funds can be a highly liquid and effective cash management tool.
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What About Financial Aid for College?
It's important to understand the options, such as financial aid grant programs, when having to pay for college.
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What Savings Alternatives Are Available?
There are a number of savings alternatives that could help you earn a reasonable rate of return.
Risk Management
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Do I Need a Business Owner Policy?
A business owner policy is an insurance package that assembles the basic coverages required by a business owner in one bundle.
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What Is Split-Dollar Life Insurance?
Split-dollar life insurance is an arrangement to purchase and fund life insurance between two parties.
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What Is Term Life Insurance?
Term life insurance differs from permanent forms of life insurance in that it offers temporary protection.
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Am I Prepared for Long-Term Care Expenses?
The odds of needing long-term care increase as you age. Prior planning can help protect you from financial ruin.
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What Does Medicare Cover?
Medicare is the federal health insurance program for those persons age 65 and over. But what does it cover?