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When you put 20% down on the purchase of a home, you don’t have to borrow as much money as someone whose down payment is only 5% or 10%. And as a result, your monthly mortgage payment may be considerably lower. But 20% down payments, while common, are by no means mandatory or the norm. In fact, the National Association of Realtors says the median down payment in 2020 was just 12%. So if you are hoping to save for retirement in addition to buying a home, you could opt for a 10% down payment and invest the remaining cash. Your monthly payments and interest will be higher, but your invested assets will grow into a substantial nest egg over the next 30 years. Let’s compare how a 10% and 20% down payments could affect your retirement. If you need to figure out how big your down payment should be, a financial advisor may be able to help you decide. Read More...
The Social Security Administration said on October 13 that Social Security and Supplemental Social Security payments will be going up by 5.9% in 2022. Advocates for older Americans, however, caution that this won’t be enough to keep up with the inflation that many will be dealing with. This is a cost of living adjustment (COLA), and it is the largest increase since 1982. For reference, COLA increases over the past five years averaged just 1.6%. Living off Social Security alone can be difficult. Consider working with a financial advisor to start planning for your retirement now. Read More...
Divorce can be a pricey proposition – according to a 2019 survey by the legal website Nolo, the average cost of a divorce is around $12,900, including more than $11,000 in attorney’s fees. Divorce at ages 50 and older – often known as gray divorce – may especially lead to various levels of financial insecurity. Nationally, the divorce rate has remained flat over the past several years. This isn’t the case in all cities, however, so with that in mind, SmartAsset set out to identify where divorce rates have been rising in recent years. Read More...
Long-term care (LTC) insurance is a smart way to get ready to face what can be a hefty cost later in life. Many people need some help taking care of themselves as they get older — especially these days, with medical advances leading to people living longer. This care, though, can get expensive. A private room in a nursing home can run more than $105,000 each year, while a home care aide will run you nearly $55,000. While there are some government programs like Medicaid and state agencies that can help cover this, getting LTC insurance now is one of the best ways to be ready for these costs. There are a number of options available in terms of LTC. For help determining your LTC insurance needs and how to address them, consider working with a financial advisor. Read More...
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Editor's Picks
Sep 13, 2021 Many people dread tax season. But if you're expecting a tax refund, you've got a couple of things to look forward to. Firstly, the IRS has…
Sep 28, 2021 Chartered financial analyst (CFA) and certified financial planner (CFP) are common certifications for individuals working in finance,…
Oct 01, 2021 Wealth management firms are all different. As a result, the process for choosing a wealth manager is a very personal one. Wealth managers…
Sep 13, 2021 If a financial planner or financial advisor is fee-only, that means they receive compensation solely from the fees clients pay from their…
Jul 23, 2019 If you’re young and you're looking to purchase a new home to live in, maybe you should consider turning your first home into an investment…
Data Articles and Studies
The number of registered investment advisors (RIAs) in the U.S. is growing, as are the number of clients they serve and assets they manage. According to an annual report published jointly by the Investment Advisor Association and National Regulatory Services, there were 13,494 RIAs in 2020 – about 11% more than there were in 2017 (12,172). Last year, those advisors reported a total of 42.1 million clients and $97.2 trillion in regulatory assets under management (AUM) – roughly 18% and 37% more, respectively, than the number of clients and assets reported three years prior. Read More...
Since the onset of COVID-19, remote work has become the norm for many Americans, allowing them to continue to meet some of their expenses while saving where possible. In the late spring of 2020, about half of American workers were working from home, according to two surveys conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Many researchers believe that increased work flexibility and work-from-home opportunities may continue even after the pandemic is over. With that in mind, SmartAsset looked at the best cities to work from home in 2021. Read More...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says that computer and information technology jobs are expected to have grown by 11% from 2019 to 2029, adding 531,200 new jobs in cloud computing, big data storage and collection and information security. The median annual wage for those jobs in May 2019 was $88,240, which is $48,430 higher than the median annual wage for all occupations. Read More...
