Archive - September 29, 2010

Article Summary:

Younger individuals tend to overlook seeking professional financial advice

Professional fee-only advisers can actually add more value to a young professional than they may realize

Financial planning is not just for people who need to prepare for retirement.

Call it youth. We don’t think we need help with much. And according to a few articles I’ve come across recently, young people on the whole generally don’t perceive a need for professional financial advice.

Although age is just a number, let’s assume for purposes of seeking financial advice that being ‘young’ ranges from the early 20’s to mid-40’s. And …

This article originated from a reader question…

For example, suppose I get, say, a $5000 bonus before the end of the year, would I be better off giving it away or putting it in 401k to avoid tax consequences, putting some in Roth IRA (if I still qualify), paying the tax bill on a conversion of some rollover IRA $$ to a Roth, paying my child’s tuition bill (too late for 529 now) to avoid debt, or replacing the 10-year old heating and A/C system to lower ongoing utility costs?

The specifics of this question are unique to the individual …