Investor Education Center

Regardless of other goals—funding college, a vacation home, etc.—saving for your retirement should be your long-term priority.

Save a little bit regularly in order to end up with a sufficiently-sized nest egg to sustain your desired lifestyle in retirement.

Do you feel an urge to react to negative economic and market news? Does it make sense to make changes to your portfolio?

The success of a fund is largely the result of efforts by its manager, the person who makes daily buy, sell and hold decisions.

RMDs are most commonly taken from traditional IRAs, workplace retirement plan accounts or self-employed retirement plan accounts.

Tax-loss harvesting can help reduce your income taxes—sometimes significantly. It may also help put money back in your pocket.

After all is said and done, just like it is for anything, the question is: are you getting a good value for your money?

A proper combination of U.S. and foreign equity and bond securities may offer you the best opportunity to reach your goals.

You must decide how much risk you’re willing to take and how much volatility is acceptable within your portfolio.

Roth IRAs offer tax-free retirement income and more flexibility than standard IRAs; conversions may, or may not, be best for you.

Actively-managed funds offer advantages over index funds in that managers are not forced to own shares of any specific company.

It takes discipline to regularly set money aside for investing; develop a plan that fits your needs and goals and stay with it.

If an advisor offers independent advice, all decisions about your assets are without the influence of any extra compensation.

Many people attempt to time the market and end up buying when the price is high and selling when the price is low

529 education plans offer several general benefits, but also include enough disadvantages that they may not be the best option.

Regular contributions to workplace retirement accounts illustrate how dollar cost averaging can help accumulate retirement assets

When looking for funds, identify managers who’ve been able to produce the most consistent performances over a long period of time.

The Madoff scandal showed the need to understand your investments, regardless of whether you invest on your own or pay an advisor.

Loads, or sales charges, do not help fund managers make better buy, sell and hold decisions on behalf of their shareholders.

As retirement nears, do you know how much money you’ll need? It’s estimated you’ll need about 80 percent of pre-retirement income.

Buy and hold should not be confused with buy and forget; accounts require regular monitoring to ensure acceptable performance.

Fund companies are required to pass through net capital gains their funds incur as managers sell securities from their funds.

Portfolio diversification across asset classes is a challenge; it may be easier with mutual funds instead of stocks.

Variable annuities’ complexity, high commissions, high expenses, lack of liquidity and tax treatments not for most investors.

Check your retirement account at work two times a year to make sure you own funds that offer the best chance to reach your goals.

A bond is a security resulting from a borrower’s promise to repay investors by a certain date money they lend plus interest.

Certain assets outperform others over time and change portfolio characteristics; rebalance to keep your risk and return in place.

Some combination of bond funds is appropriate in most investor’s portfolios depending on goals, income and other factors.

Because of issues with other options, moving qualified retirement assets to a self-directed IRA provides benefit and flexibility.