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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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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Could My Family Benefit from a Family Limited Partnership?
One estate planning strategy that families with closely held businesses could consider is the family limited partnership.
Retirement
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What Is a SEP IRA?
A SEP IRA is a type of plan under which the employer contributes (up to a certain limit) to an employee’s IRA.
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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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Don’t Bank Your Retirement on Your Business
Allocating too much of your retirement investments to one company, even your own, can be a risky proposition.
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What Is a Self-Employed Retirement Plan?
Tax-deferred retirement plans for self-employed individuals have higher contribution limits than IRAs.
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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.
Tax Planning
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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Required minimum distribution is the annual amount that must be withdrawn from a qualified retirement plan/account.
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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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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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Growth Stocks vs. Value Stocks
The labels growth and value reflect different approaches that can be used when making investment decisions.
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What Are Zero-Coupon Bonds?
Zero-coupon bonds represent a type of bond that does not pay interest during the life of the bond.
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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 Bond?
A bond is simply evidence of a debt from a government entity or a corporation and represents a long-term IOU.
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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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How Do Mutual Funds and Stocks Differ?
The difference between purchasing an individual stock versus shares in a mutual fund to potentially earn dividends.
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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 Is a Mutual Fund Load?
It’s important to understand mutual fund loads, or sales charges, and exactly what they entail so you can make informed investing decisions.
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What Investment Risks Should I Know About?
Understanding different types of investment risk can help investors manage their money more effectively.
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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.
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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How Can I Better Manage My Short-Term Cash?
There are numerous investment alternatives available to help provide liquidity.
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How Does Inflation Affect Me?
Historically, one of the best ways to fight the effects of inflation has been to utilize growth-oriented investments.
Risk Management
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What Is Universal Life Insurance?
Consider a universal life insurance policy if you want the flexibility to change your premium or death benefit.
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What Is Variable Life Insurance?
Variable life insurance gives you the control to allocate your account value among a variety of investment options.
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What Are the Basic Types of Life Insurance?
When selecting a life insurance policy, examine all your options, as well as the positives and negatives of each type.