Other Financial Topics
Calculators
- Car Affordability
How much can you afford to pay for a car?
- Cash Flow Analysis
This Cash Flow Analysis form will help you weigh your income vs. your expenses.
- Credit Card Debt
How Long Will It Take to Pay my Balance?
- Estate Taxes
Use this calculator to estimate the federal estate taxes that could be due on your estate after you die.
- Federal Income Tax
This calculator can help you estimate your annual federal income tax liability.
- Home Affordability
Estimate of the maximum amount of financing you can expect to get when you begin house hunting.
- Lease Payment
How much would your monthly lease payment be?
- Life Expectancy
Knowing your likely life expectancy is an important factor in making long-term financial plans.
- Lifetime Earnings
This calculator is designed to help you attach a dollar figure to your life’s work.
- Loan Payoff
How much will it cost to pay off a loan over its lifetime?
- Long-Term Care Self Insurance
Will you be able to afford nursing home care?
- Mortgage Acceleration
This calculator can help you determine how soon you can pay off your mortgage.
- Mortgage Refinancing
Determine whether you should consider refinancing your mortgage.
- Personal Inflation Rate
Is your personal inflation rate higher or lower than the CPI?
- Savings Accumulation
Estimate the future value of your current savings.
- Savings Goals
How much do you need to save each year to meet your long-term financial goals?
Newsletters
- A New Option for Providing Health Coverage in 2020
Learn more about Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements and how they may help small businesses offer employee health coverage.
- A Quick and Dirty Guide to Credit
Learn about four financing options that might help small businesses expand, pursue new opportunities, or cover operating expenses.
- Business or Hobby? It’s All About Taxes
The difference between a money-losing business and a hobby matters at tax time. This article presents IRS criteria for making the distinction.
- Caught in the Middle: The Sandwich Generation
Tips to help balance the competing demands of saving for retirement and providing financial support to adult children and aging parents.
- Closed-End Funds May Offer Higher Income
Discover why closed-end funds may offer potentially higher income streams than traditional mutual funds holding similar securities.
- Consider REITs for Income and Diversification
Explore the basics of equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) including their potential benefits and risks.
- Could Employee Ownership Be Part of Your Succession Plan?
An employee stock ownership plan may be a tax-friendly way for retiring small-business owners to pass the reins to employees.
- Give and Receive with a Charitable Remainder Trust
Discover how to give a substantial gift to a favorite charity while receiving a flow of income during your lifetime.
- HOT TOPIC: How Geopolitical Tensions May Affect Oil Prices and the Economy
Explore the relationship between fuel prices and economic growth, factors that influence prices, and how U.S. production altered the global oil market.
- HOT TOPIC: Manufacturing Slowdown. . .What Does It Mean for the Economy?
This article looks at some of the reasons behind the manufacturing slowdown and what it might mean for the broader U.S. economy.
- Hot Topic: The Ag Economy: Tough Times for Farmers in 2019
Farm bankruptcies rose in 2019, despite billions in federal support. This article discusses the effect on rural communities and regional economies.
- HOT TOPIC: Two Trade Agreements Offer Optimism, But Uncertainty Remains
A look at the U.S.-China “skinny” trade deal and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and their potential impact on consumers and the U.S. economy.
- HOT TOPIC: Upside Down: What Does the Yield Curve Suggest About Growth?
An inverted yield curve can be an economic indicator along with other factors that contribute to an uncertain outlook for future growth.
- Is It Time to Step Up Your Digital Marketing?
Now that 28% of Americans report being online “almost constantly,” could digital marketing be a cost-effective way to attract new customers?
- Life Insurance Strategies: Reasons Empty Nesters May Want Permanent Coverage
As policyholders age, life insurance could help supplement retirement income, support a surviving spouse, and/or leave a legacy.
- Life Insurance with Long-Term Care Benefits
Concerned about the costs of long-term care? Discover two strategies that combine life insurance coverage with LTC benefits.
- Medicare Open Enrollment
This article explains the changes that Medicare beneficiaries can make during the annual open enrollment period from October 15 to December 7.
- Online Shopping Tips
As web-based retail sales continue to grow, these tips may help ensure a safer online shopping experience.
- Prices and the Economy
Low inflation may seem like good news, but it has a darker side. See which factors might be driving down inflation in the United States.
- Qualified Charitable Distributions
Discover how qualified charitable distributions work and why they may now be more valuable than taking a tax deduction.
- Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts (QLACs)
Worried your retirement might outlast your savings? A qualified longevity annuity contract could provide an income stream later in life.
- Rain, Sleet, Snow — and Lawsuits?
Icy winter walkways can lead to injuries and lawsuits. Find out how an umbrella policy can offer higher liability coverage.
- Retirement Plans for the Self-Employed Dangle Tax Benefits
Solo 401(k) plans and SEP IRAs may help small-business owners and the self-employed shelter more income from taxes and save for the future.
- Risk Tolerance: Stress-Test Your Portfolio…and Yourself
Do you know your personal tolerance for market risk? Here are three key questions that may help you find out.
- Running with the Dogs
See how the Dogs of the Dow, an investing strategy known for chasing dividends and value, can be implemented through a unit investment trust.
- Steps to Help Lower Capital Gains Taxes
Discover how the step-up in basis provision may help reduce capital gains taxes and preserve the value of assets left to heirs.
- Sticker Shock May Drive Consumers to Used Cars
As new car prices skyrocket, these three trends could make 2019 a good year to buy a three-year-old vehicle.
- Taming Investment Taxes
Do you know how investments are taxed and which strategies can help improve a portfolio’s tax efficiency?
- Three Regrets of Retirees
More than half of retirees surveyed had retirement planning regrets. Explore the three most common mistakes and how to avoid them.
- What’s Required of the Executor of an Estate?
Being named the executor of an estate can be an honor, but this overview shows why it can also be a difficult and time-consuming job.
Research Articles
- Assessing Disability Income Insurance
Knowing the basics of a disability income insurance policy is a good first step toward protecting your family.
- Avoiding Probate
The probate process can be lengthy and complex. There are strategies you can use to help avoid the probate process.
- Cash Management Basics
A sound cash management program uses a disciplined approach: accounting, analysis, allocation, and adjustment.
- Charitable Giving
To retain the tax advantages associated with charitable giving, your gift must be made to a qualified organization.
- Charitable Lead Trusts
Charitable lead trusts are designed for people who would like to benefit a charity now rather than later.
- Charitable Remainder Trusts
A designated income beneficiary could receive payment of a specified amount from a charitable remainder trust.
- Doubling Your Money
Before making investment decisions, it is helpful to determine the real rate of return on the investment.
- Estate Planning
Wills and trusts allow you to spell out how you would like your property distributed, but they also go beyond that.
- 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.
- Living Trusts
A living trust can help control the distribution of your estate upon death.
- Long-Term Care Costs
The odds of needing long-term care increase as you age. Prior planning can help protect you from financial ruin.
- Long-Term-Care Needs
If you were to suffer an illness or disability that required long-term nursing care, would you be covered?
- Paying Estate Taxes
If you believe your estate will be subject to estate taxes, consider how your heirs will pay the bill.
- Property Ownership
Sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, and community property have special benefits for property owners.
- Savings Alternatives
There are a number of savings alternatives that could help you earn a reasonable rate of return.
- Tax Deferral
There can be a substantial benefit to deferring taxes as long as possible.
- United States Tax History
American tax law is a constantly changing landscape. The latest major piece of tax legislation is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
- Wealth Replacement Trusts
A wealth replacement trust could be used to gift appreciated assets to a charity as well as provide for heirs.