Financial planning Archives - DIYmoneytrack.com

Why you should set up your Social Security account online as soon as possible

If you’ve been collecting a regular paycheck in the U.S., then your employer has been deducting Social Security taxes. These deductions are typically itemized on your paystub as “FICA SS TAX”. Your employer matches these contributions and sends both portions to the Social Security Administration.

Even if you already know about this deduction, you may not have realized that information about your Social Security tax payments and future benefits are available to you online at the Social Security Administration (SSA) website.

If you have not already created your my Social Security account online, then you should do so as soon as possible. Read on to find out why you should set up an online account and how to do it.

Are your investments outperforming the market?

How do you know if your investment portfolio is performing better (or worse) than the market?

The answer is your investment alpha.

Alpha is a measure of an investment’s performance compared to a benchmark, like a market index.

If your investments are not meeting or exceeding your benchmark(s) over a time period, then you may need to reevaluate your investments and strategy.

As referenced in my book Making Big Money Decisions, investing in underperforming assets generates considerable opportunity costs and suppresses wealth accumulation. Use the content in this post to ensure you’re getting the best return on your invested money.

By reading this post, you will learn why alpha is a key performance indicator for managing your investment portfolio, and how to calculate and use it to optimize your investment strategy.*

16 online resources for making big money decisions

Statistics on the state of personal finance show that many adults, particularly young adults, struggle with financial literacy and are concerned about their ability to fund life goals like buying a house and retiring comfortably.

One way to overcome these concerns is by making the unknown known through financial planning and money management. Like many things in life, getting started is probably the hardest part. Time is an essential element in both life and personal finance, so use it to your advantage by starting your planning as early as possible.