This is the final post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1. During my tenure at Fidelity Investments as a Retirement Representative, I would receive calls from employees who opted out of participating in their company’s 401(k). These calls were my biggest pet peeve, […]

This is the fourth post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1 or continue on to Part 5. We have two more savings vehicles to review where you can really maximize your retirement savings so that you can do those extra things (traveling? spoiling the […]

This is the seventh post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1, or continue on to Part 8. Welcome to the wonderful world of mutual funds! The basic definition of a mutual fund is a pool of money gathered by many investors to purchase a wide variety […]

This is the third post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1 or continue on to Part 4. Do you know the benefits of having a Roth 401(k)? Many people are not sure what exactly a Roth 401(k) is and how it can benefit them. A Roth […]

This is the eleventh post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1 or continue on to Part 12. How do you know if you are on track toward having enough money saved for retirement? This is a very difficult question but necessary to review, though it’s impossible to […]

This is the fifth post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1 or continue on to Part 6. Investing. Some people feel excited by this word while others fear it. Investing can be very confusing, especially for those who have no idea what a stock or […]

This is the ninth post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1 or continue on to Part 10. A few months ago, a client mentioned her plan to take a withdrawal from her 401(k) account to pay off her debt in full. I immediately went into ‘protective […]

This is the eighth post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1 or continue on to Part 9. Annuities: these are a complicated species. An annuity is a contract between an investor and the insurance company. There are two different types of annuities, fixed and variable. Fixed annuities […]

This is the sixth post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1 or continue on to Part 7. As promised, we’ll be learning about bonds today. Bonds are considered to be conservative investments, which means that while they have the potential to increase your principal balance, […]

This is the second post in our Retirement Investing 101 series written by Amanda Smith, Client Services Specialist at CESI. Check out Part 1 or continue on to Part 3. Now, what is a 401(k) and why is it so important to have one? Simply put, a 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan – or an account your […]