For many workers, the benefits package a company offers is almost as important as the salary that goes along with it. One of the benefits that workers are most interested in is the retirement plan. People want to know that they are going to be okay after they stop working, and in most cases, they are relying on their employer to help make that a reality when it comes to saving. 

Many companies offer retirement plans such as a 401(k). However, these plans can come with bureaucratic red tape and regulatory loopholes to jump through – which can make them more difficult to implement. Because of these difficulties, some companies choose to opt out of plans like 401(k)s altogether.

Planning for retirement brings forth many questions. Which type of account is best? How much should I be saving? 

Everyone’s unique situation brings a different answer. However, the more you know about planning for retirement, the better off you will be in the future. 

Most Americans are familiar with health insurance. We pay a premium to receive access to a health network. While some receive health insurance as a benefit from their employers, others must seek coverage on their own. 

The quality and type of health insurance often correlates with monthly premium. Higher quality insurance costs more than basic programs. However, other factors such as the policyholder’s individual health status affects the price of health insurance as well.

The idea of using life insurance as a retirement plan may seem, at best, counterintuitive. At worst, it sounds vaguely fraudulent if you’re not familiar with the intricacies of the life insurance industry. As far as most people are concerned, life insurance is there to support your family after you pass away, not to help you after you retire.  

What if you’re the beneficiary of someone else’s policy? Could you use the death benefit you receive for retirement then? Hypothetically, yes.

We all love our retirement accounts. Saving for the future gives us something to look forward to and reminds us how our hard work will pay off down the road. 

A 401(k) is one of the most popular and common types of retirement plans we have access to today.. By diverting money from our paycheck into our 401(k), the goal is to save enough so that by the time we retire, we can live comfortably without a change in lifestyle.

If you are considering starting or investing in a new business, you may have seen some information on a limited liability company (LLC) and a limited liability partnership (LLP). When you first look at the two business structures, they look very similar, but there are some key differences between an LLC and an LLP. 

To hopefully decrease confusion, we’ll start with defining what they are and then dive into what makes them different.

You Need a Budget, sometimes also called YNAB (pronounced why-nab), is a budgeting software. While it has been around since 2004, it first began receiving significant media exposure when it was voted the top personal finance application by Lifehacker in 2011. 

Over the past 16 years, You Need a Budget has become more than a budgeting program—for many of its hundreds of thousands of users, it has turned into a lifestyle. 

Whenever tax season comes along, it seems like everyone’s finances get a little hectic. Many of the employed expect some sort of tax rebate due to write offs and other credits. On the flip side, a lot of self employed workers have to pay their taxes in full at this time if they haven’t been paying quarterly (which I’d recommend). 

Handling your taxes can be tricky, and more so for the self employed and contract workers. Since employees who are taxed regularly from their payroll checks handle their taxes differently than those who do not see regular deductions from their paychecks, each group has a different tax form: The 1099 and the W-2.

Saving for your retirement is one of the most important financial hurdles you will be faced with. While there are a number of options including IRAs, chances are you’re most familiar with the 401(k). 

401(k) accounts are one of the most popular retirement plans offered by employers for their employees. Made up of a variety of investments, 401(k)s allow for increasing one’s savings and making your money work for you. 

As you transition into retirement, one of the most pressing issues to consider is applying for Social Security. Although these monthly payments probably aren’t your entire income source, they can be a vital part of your retirement budget. 

If you’re married when applying for Social Security, your spouse may also be entitled to benefits, even if he or she is not at retirement age. However, while this process is relatively straightforward for current married couples, what if you’re on a second marriage?