Lastest Stories by Will Ashworth

You graduated college and entered the working world at 21, setting a goal to have $1 million in your 401(k) within a decade. Instead, you hit your target at 46, 15 years later than your original...
The S&P 500 has performed admirably in 2024, up nearly 22%. With a little less than three months left in the year, it has a decent shot of matching 2023’s 24.2% return and only the sixth time...
The current S&P 500 dividend yield is 1.24%. The highest it’s ever been at the end of a calendar year from 1933 through 2023 was 8.11% in 1941. The highest since 2000 was 3.23% in 2008 during...
One of the most discussed subjects in retirement planning is Social Security benefits and the age at which one should start receiving them. While you can elect to take them as early as 62, most...
Many utilities stocks have taken off in 2024 due to the increased demand for electricity to power AI data centers. This thirst cannot seem quenched, so that’s great news if you own or are...
As interest rates increased considerably in the past few years, dividend stocks lost some of their cachet with income investors. Now that they’re coming back down, investor interest has picked...
If you roam financial websites enough, you’ll frequently see “Magic Number” articles published with a scary headline suggesting you need millions for a happy and fulfilling retirement. However,...
Financial adviser and author David Bach first coined the phrase “The Latter Factor” in his 1999 book Smart Women Finish Rich. He believed cutting spending on things you don’t need, such as...
Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve did as expected on Sept. 18, cutting the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 4.75% to 5%. This is a sign that inflation has mostly been tamed. It also...
A will is a legal document that lays out your wishes upon death. Wills are commonly considered financial in nature because they detail how you want your assets distributed and appoint one or more...
The annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to Social Security payments for 2025 is expected to be 2.5%, the smallest COLA increase in the past three...
If you’re thinking about withdrawing $10,000 in cash from your checking account to play blackjack during your week-long trip to Las Vegas, you might want to know what happens when you do. The Bank...
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported on August 22 that existing home sales in July were 1.3% higher than in June, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million. However, on a...
Like almost anything in life, the right choice for a credit card is the one that meets your specific needs.  Premium credit cards such as the American Express Centurion Card might be attractive to...
President Franklin Roosevelt’s June 1934 Executive Order established the Committee on Economic Safety. That led to the Social Security Act, passed on Aug. 14, 1935.  Social Security provided...