Throughout your career, retirement planning will likely be one of the most important components of your overall financial plan. Whether you have just graduated and taken your first job, are starting a family, are enjoying your peak earning years, or are preparing to retire, your employer-sponsored retirement plan can play a key role in your financial strategies. How should you view and manage your retirement savings plan through various life stages? Following are some points to consider.
Conventional wisdom says that what goes up, must come down. But even if you view market volatility as a normal occurrence, it can be tough to handle when it’s your money at stake.
Though there’s no foolproof way to handle the ups and downs of the stock market, the following common sense tips can help.
Here are some tips to help keep your family safe in an emergency and allow you to leave quickly with the items you need most.
With approximately 94% of American workers covered by Social Security and 65 million people currently receiving benefits, keeping Social Security healthy is a major concern.1 Social Security isn’t in danger of going broke — it’s financed primarily through payroll taxes — but its financial health is declining, and benefits may eventually be reduced unless Congress acts.
Keeping your cool can be hard to do when the market goes on one of its periodic roller-coaster rides. It’s useful to have strategies in place that prepare you both financially and psychologically to handle market volatility. Here are 11 ways to help keep yourself from making hasty decisions that could have a long-term impact on your ability to achieve your financial goals.
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), tax scams tend to increase during tax season and/or times of crisis.¹ Now that tax season is in full swing, the IRS is reminding taxpayers to use caution and avoid becoming the victim of a fraudulent tax scheme. Here are some of the most common tax scams to watch out for.
If you are self-employed or own a small business and you haven’t established a retirement savings plan, what are you waiting for? A retirement plan can help you and your employees save for the future.
In the college savings game, all strategies aren’t created equal. The best savings vehicles offer special tax advantages if the funds are used to pay for college. Tax-advantaged strategies are important because over time, you can potentially accumulate more money with a tax-advantaged investment compared to a taxable investment. Ideally, though, you’ll want to choose a savings vehicle that offers you the best combination of tax advantages, financial aid benefits, and flexibility, while meeting your overall investment needs.
Open enrollment is the window of time when employers introduce changes to their benefit offerings for the upcoming plan year. If you’re employed, this is your once-a-year chance to make important decisions that will affect your health-care choices and your finances.
If you qualify for federal financial aid, there are a number of strategies you can try to implement to enhance the amount of aid your child will receive when you apply for financial aid. The idea is to lower your expected family contribution (EFC), which in turn raises your child’s aid eligibility.
We’re partnering with News Channel 12 to honor nonprofit volunteers who make our community thrive. Each month, we’re choosing a different nonprofit and asking them to select a valuable volunteer to receive the SESLOC Cares for Community Award. We’re thrilled to introduce Michael Camacho-Craft, from the Good Samaritan Shelter
We’re partnering with News Channel 12 to honor nonprofit volunteers who make our community thrive. Each month, we’re choosing a different nonprofit and asking them to select a valuable volunteer to receive the SESLOC Cares for Community Award. We’re thrilled to introduce Margot Olivarria, from Shoes for Students
Thank you for voting for us in the Santa Maria Times “Best Of 2024” contest. We are humbled! Here are our favorite Local Rewards¹ hot spots in the area, where you’ll earn bonus SESLOC Rewards points¹ on eligible debit and credit card purchases.
Everything you need to know about using contactless cards.
We’re partnering with News Channel 12 to honor nonprofit volunteers who make our community thrive. Each month, we’re choosing a different nonprofit and asking them to select a valuable volunteer to receive the SESLOC Cares for Community Award. We’re thrilled to introduce Candice Monge, from CALM.
