The 401(k) is one of the best accounts to save a significant amount for retirement in the United States. 401(k) contribution limits are generous, and allow you to shield a healthy amount of income from taxes. However, the majority of people don't contribute the maximum to their 401(k) – which leads us to ask: what […]

The Individual Retirement Account or IRA is an excellent tax free account available to most American workers. Unlike 401(k)s, IRAs are completely portable and usually have fewer restrictions on the number of investments they allow. They unfortunately come with smaller contribution limits than 401(k)s. Still, most people don't take full advantage of the accounts... so we […]

One question we get quite a bit is related to the fundamentals of saving: is there a magic savings rate? In the past we’ve looked at the ideal savings rate. There we suggested 20% as a minimum savings rate, with the caveat you should save more if you can. Interestingly, there are also some magical […]

In this country, there is a definite fascination with the word 'Millionaire'.  It's a word which comes with all sorts of interesting associations - affluence and opulence sure, but also someone shrewd with business dealings, on top of their game, and always dealing - or possibly just extremely busy at work.  Interesting and fun word […]

Quick: after taxes, what was your savings rate last year? We can't blame you if you didn't answer – I mean, that's why you clicked on this post. We're going to tackle some thorny questions within: Why should you track your savings rate? Is a vague idea of your savings rate enough? Here's the preview: […]

This article will detail how to calculate your savings rate and emulate our method of calculating our own.  We will show you savings calculations using a strict method which only includes the accumulation of assets, as well as the more typical method which also includes paydowns of debt.  All our methods are after tax, also […]

We'll get to the point early: increased savings is good for the economy. The most likely forms your increased savings will take won't hurt the economy and will probably help it. You probably don't have to worry that your savings will spike the broader economy. What is Savings? Savings is simply spending less than the […]

If you're looking for a place to put your emergency fund, your search has come to an end: the oft-overlooked Health Savings Account.  Today we discuss the idea of the health savings account retirement fund, and explain the IRS rule which makes it all possible. Keeping Something in Reserve A common refrain heard from the […]

A few weeks back we presented one of our signature pieces of original research on what Americans saved based upon their ages.  That data used fresh data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey to paint a picture - however imprecise - of savings by income. Today we complete the short lived series with data from the […]

It wasn't too long ago when we posted our epic article (and corresponding calculator) on the ideal savings rate.  Since the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released their 2012 statistical tables from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, I figured it might be interesting to look at how much American savings by age. Let's do that. Savings […]