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Women Educating Women About Investing: Jenna Rodrigues
March is Women’s History Month, so through the end of the month we’ll be releasing stories highlighting women who are educating other women about investing. Most of us are familiar with the gender pay gap, but another equally important issue facing women and their...
Women Educating Women About Investing: Lisa Seery
March is Women’s History Month, so through the end of the month we’ll be releasing stories highlighting women who are educating other women about investing. Most of us are familiar with the gender pay gap, but another equally important issue facing women and their...
Guide to Popular Tax Credits
What are Tax Credits? Even though the deadline to pay and file your income taxes is delayed, we recommend still filing sooner rather than later if you expect to receive a refund. As you gather all of the paperwork and documentation needed to prepare and file your tax...
What You Need to Know About the Coronavirus Stimulus Package
Friday March 27th the House passed a substantial stimulus bill aimed at combating the dramatic economic slow down stemming from the coronavirus, and President Trump signed it into law that same afternoon. The CARES Act stands for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic...
Women Educating Women About Investing: Amanda Holden
March is Women’s History Month, so through the end of the month we’ll be releasing stories highlighting women who are educating other women about investing. Most of us are familiar with the gender pay gap, but another equally important issue facing women and their...
How to Prepare Your Finances for a Recession
The 11-year bull market in stocks recently came to an abrupt end, and even though a bear market does not always lead to a recession, they do tend to coincide to some degree. And with markets continuing to tumble, it’s looking like the U.S. stock market is pricing in a...
How to Get Your Finances in Order While You’re Working From Home
Spring has sprung...but we're mostly all stuck inside. Since you're probably on a spring cleaning spree now that you're spending so much time at home, here are some tips to help you spring clean your finances while you're working remotely. How to Get Your Finances in...
Questions to Ask if You’re Retiring in a Bear Market
Bear markets are never fun, but they can feel especially painful if you are about to retire. Here are five questions to ask yourself, and your financial advisor, to make sure you are prepared if you need to retire in a bear market. If you are 65 or older, it can’t be...
U.S. Stocks Have Their Worst Week Since the Financial Crisis
It was another historic week for financial markets with volatility reaching levels not seen since the Great Depression. The magnitude of the impact of the coronavirus is still widely unknown and things are changing by the minute. Drastic measures are being taken...
5 Tips for Surviving a Bear Market
The past several weeks have been a roller coaster – coronavirus continues to rock the global economy, and U.S. stocks entered a bear market, ending the 11-year bull run we’d all become accustomed to. Bear markets, while a natural part of market cycles, are scary for...
3 Ways to Use the Personal Capital Dashboard During Market Volatility
From everyone at Personal Capital, we hope you, your friends, and family are staying safe and healthy during the COVID-19 situation. The current bear market is impacting everyone’s finances. Although drops and volatility can be unsettling and frightening, it's...
Weekly Market Digest: Stocks Enter a Bear Market
Global stocks sold off sharply this week, with the S&P 500 having its worst single day performance since Black Monday in 1987. This also marks one of the fastest bear markets in history, after U.S. stocks were hitting record highs only three weeks prior. As market...
The Average 401k Balance By Age
401k plans are one of the most common investment vehicles that Americans use to save for retirement. For most of us, the 401k is an employer-sponsored plan that allows you to save for retirement in a tax-sheltered way (up to $19,500 per year in 2020) to help maximize...
What is a Bear Market, And Will it Lead to a Recession?
This week, major U.S. equity indexes entered a bear market, dropping more than 20% from recent highs. Stock market circuit breakers triggered for the second time this week on Thursday causing a brief halt in trading. However, stocks continued their fall closing down...
10 IRS Audit Triggers
Read our FREE tax guide "5 Tax Hacks for Investors.". You may have read stories over the last couple of years that the IRS is conducting fewer audits due to budget cuts. But, keep in mind that audits do happen, and that your last three tax returns are subject to...
What is a Stock Market Correction?
What is a stock market correction, and how is it different from a bear market? Stocks around the world sold off today, fueled by growing coronavirus concern and plummeting oil prices. Trading even briefly halted this morning as the result of a 7% drop that triggered a...
Weekly Market Digest: Markets Volatile on Continued Coronavirus Concerns
Markets were erratic this week as investors scrambled to assess the impact of the coronavirus and new accommodative monetary policy. The S&P 500 moved an average of 3.3% per day, finishing up 0.6% for the week. A 5% drop on the final two days eroded confidence...
What Moved the Markets in February?
Stocks Sell Off Sharply on Coronavirus Concerns After hitting record highs, stocks sold off sharply in late February when it became increasingly apparent the coronavirus would spread throughout the world. One implication is that government and personal preventative...
Lessons Learned About Tax Prep as an Entrepreneur
Stressing about taxes? Download Your FREE Guide: "5 Tax Hacks for Investors" Tax season is always stressful. Compiling all your paperwork, crunching numbers, staying organized. There’s a reason most people put it off until the last minute. But if you’re a solo...
How Much Cash Should I Have in My Portfolio During Volatile Markets?
These last couple of weeks have been wild ones for Wall Street, with the markets taking a nosedive and then staging comeback rallies before dipping again on coronavirus concerns. This kind of volatility tends to give investors whiplash, and can cause people to make...
Weekly Market Digest: Coronavirus and Market Correction Update
Coronavirus fear gripped markets, sending stocks rapidly into correction territory. A more detailed summary of our view is below. In other news, Bernie Sanders strengthened his status as front-runner for the Democratic nomination following an adequate debate...
The Finances of a Wedding: Financial Planning Tips for Your Special Day
Navigating paying for a wedding can be overwhelming. As of 2019, the average wedding cost in the United States is around $33,900. That number comes just under the average transaction price (ATP) on a new vehicle. Paying for the Wedding at these prices, and with...
What are the Best States to Retire In?
Congrats! Your kids are out of the house, your mortgage is paid off, and you’re ready to retire. So now the question is: where should you retire? Stressing about taxes? Download Your FREE Guide: "5 Tax Hacks for Investors" Does it Make Financial Sense to Relocate in...
How I Used Personal Capital to Reach My Goal of Saving $100K by Age 25
How I Saved My First $100K Last fall — after over 3 years of work — I successfully completed my goal of saving $100K at 25. Saving money has always been one of my biggest priorities. I owe that mindset to my parents, who made sure I had strong financial education at a...
Personal Capital Investor’s Guide to Volatile Markets
Life is full of uncertainties. We protect our families with life insurance and our cars and homes with auto and homeowner policies. But how do we protect our financial futures?
5 Tax Hacks for Investors: A Guide to Tax-Efficient Investing
They say that only two things in life are certain. And while neither is anyone’s favorite topic, the reality is that taxes are often one of your largest expenses. Good tax management and tax-efficient investing is crucial for growing your net worth, so here's your...
How To React During Market Volatility
Markets have been selling off sharply this week, primarily over concerns related to the coronavirus. On news of the virus spreading overseas to other countries like Italy and South Korea, the S&P dropped more than 3.3% (the biggest daily decline since 2018) and...
Weekly Market Digest: Morgan Stanley Announces it Will Buy E*Trade
It was a short week for trading that ended with a risk-off tone. Defensive sectors like consumer staples and utilities held in relatively well, while more cyclical sectors like technology and consumer discretionary took a beating on Friday. Global financial markets...
Can You Claim Education Tax Credits?
The costs of higher education continue to rise with no end in sight. Over the past 17 years, the college inflation rate has been about 7.4%, according to The College Board. This is more than double the broad U.S. inflation rate of 2.3% as measured by the Consumer...
Financial Tips for Couples At Any Stage
It will come as no surprise to people who've been in a relationship that couples fight about money. In our recent Love & Money survey, we found that 53% of survey respondents find that having money conversations with their partner is stressful. Our feelings about...
