Author Image: John Spoto

John Spoto

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For most Americans, retirement planning is ultimately focused on accumulating a “nest egg” of savings and investments to generate enough income to pay for a comfortable lifestyle. To find out how large a nest egg you will need, you must first estimate your “retirement income gap.” This is the difference between how much you’ll need […]
Planning for retirement is perhaps the most pressing financial issue facing most Americans in their 40s, 50s and 60s today. Although most people believe that realizing a secure retirement is their most important financial priority, few have taken the steps necessary to reach this goal. Perhaps they are intimidated by the process itself, including sorting […]
Last time, we discussed specific obstacles that can get in the way of securing a comfortable retirement. In this article, we’ll offer some solutions to help improve the chances of securing a comfortable retirement. Fortunately, the study of the behavioral forces that result in poor decisions has enabled researchers to develop strategies to employ those […]
Helping your children pay for college is one of the biggest and most important challenges you will face. Currently, a four-year education (tuition, fees, room and board, supplies and personal expenses) can range from almost $120,000 at a public college to more than $280,000 at some of the most expensive private institutions, such as Boston […]
“Surprise! The returns reported by mutual funds are not actually earned by mutual fund investors.” This is how John Bogle, founder of Vanguard Mutual Funds, begins the chapter titled “The Grand Illusion” in his 2007 book, “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.” The “grand illusion” he is referring to is the fact that mutual-fund […]
Emotions trump smarts. Making good financial decisions can be difficult, even for smart people. One reason is that most people make decisions based, in large part, on their biases and the emotions they are experiencing at the time rather than a thorough review of the facts. In other words, their choices hinge more on what […]