Bob Sullivan
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Articles by Bob Sullivan
Find Investments To Meet Your Financial Goals
Apr 18, 2023 How To Buy I Bonds With Your Tax Refund Series I Savings Bonds are a low-risk investment option that currently offer higher returns than you can get in almost any savings account. Although their rates have decreased since reaching a peak in 2022, I bonds are still paying a... Apr 18, 2023 Best Crypto Wallets Of April 2023 When you buy cryptocurrency, you need a safe place to store the digital keys that secure your assets.
Gotcha Capitalism on the run! If you hate hidden fees, now's the time to pay attention
More than a decade ago, I started writing a column on everyday consumer frustrations called The Red Tape Chronicles -- my mailbag overflowed with rage. Piled high in my inbox every day were missives about mysterious late fees, overcharges, surprise interest rate hikes, and really all manner of sleazy, sneaky business practices. Everyone reading this knows what I'm talking about. And with each fee, you could almost hear some accountant somewhere yelling, "Gotcha!" with glee.
Top 10 Retirement Tips For 2023
Lists of retirement advice for the year to come generally all sound the same—but that’s not the case this year. Retiring during a bear market is challenging enough. But the 2023 retirement outlook includes a host of other major threats, such as high inflation and rising interest rates. Taken together, these trends have created an uncertain environment that would unnerve even the most careful retirement planners.
Want to fix America's housing crisis? Build 7 million homes, fast
America's housing market is crazy, which makes most Americans crazy. Fixing it would require something like 4 million new homes to drop out of the sky tomorrow. Or perhaps 7 million. And even that wouldn't really restore the U.S. social contract with the middle class. If you reallywant to make America's great cities -- their culture, their smarts, their capacity to unlock human potential -- available to all Americans, you might need as many as 75 million homes to magically appear.
4 Reasons To Choose A Roth IRA
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) give investors a fantastic opportunity to save on taxes. Pay your future self by investing in an IRA, and you can also lower your income tax bill. Clever retirement investors know an even better strategy to minimize their taxes, though: Use a Roth IRA.
Top 10 Retirement Tips For 2023
Lists of retirement advice for the year to come generally all sound the same—but that’s not the case this year. The 2023 retirement outlook includes a host of obstacles, such as high inflation and rising interest rates. These trends have created an uncertain environment that would unnerve even the most careful retirement planners. But as always, your personal circumstances matter the most. Here’s a list of things to keep an eye on if you’re planning to ride off into the sunset in 2023.
The average American has 7.2 jobs by age 28
Feel like you’re bouncing around between jobs? Have no fear, you are hardly alone. A typical young adult in the U.S. has held an average of 7.2 jobs by age 28, new research shows, which is roughly equivalent to having one new employer each year. The study, released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, examined a nationally representative group of 9,000 young men and women born between 1980 and 1984.
Average Stock Market Return
Whenever there’s a period of extreme market volatility, new investors might wonder if it’s really worth keeping their money in the stock market at all. This was especially true in the first half of 2022 when stocks entered a bear market after the Federal Reserve began tightening monetary policy. Dump the doubt. Over the long term, stocks are a worthwhile investment for most people, with one caveat: Be prepared to handle the inevitable speed bumps along the way. Don’t believe us?
Peak Inflation Has Come And Gone
Peak inflation is the point when prices across the economy begin declining from all-time highs. It’s a term that most Americans haven’t even considered for decades—but now it seems like everyone is talking about it. According to the most recent consumer price index (CPI), the most commonly referenced measures of price trends in the U.S., we are about nine months past peak inflation at this point. Year-over-year CPI peaked at 9.1% in June, and since then monthly readings have steadily declined.
How Does The Stock Market Perform When Interest Rates Rise?
The Central Government has tasked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with the job of keeping the Indian economy running as smoothly as possible. If the RBI believes the economy is lagging, it can cut the repo rate to make borrowing money cheaper for individuals and businesses. This move typically pushes up stock prices, rewarding investors better returns. The first months of the Covid-19 crisis provide the most recent example of this dynamic.
Flying soon? You might pay first-class prices for coach-class seats
If you are planning to take your first post-Covid flight soon, be prepared for some dramatic sticker shock. Really dramatic -- like first-class-prices-for-coach-class -tickets dramatic. A friend recently posted about her depressing search for a fairly routine cross-country flight that used to cost around $400 -- she was quoted around $1,100.
How To Take Advantage Of A Stock Market Crash
Bob Sullivan - Forbes Advisor There’s an old saying on Wall Street: If you don’t sell it, you haven’t lost it. In other words, the value of your investments doesn’t really matter until the day you need to cash out, so don’t worry about the ups and downs in the interim. That’s cold comfort when your portfolio has lost 20% or even 30% of its value in a stock market crash. Just look at the market this month and you’ll know what I mean—or think back to early 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Stock Market Crash: What Should You Do?
There’s an old saying on Wall Street: If you don’t sell it, you haven’t lost it. In other words, the value of your investments doesn’t really matter until the day you need to cash out, so don’t worry about the ups and downs in the interim. That’s cold comfort when your portfolio has lost 20% or even 30% of its value in a stock market crash. Just look at the market this month and you’ll know what I mean—or think back to early 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic began.
How To Deal With A Stock Market Correction
At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we endured one of the deepest and quickest corrections in history (some might call it a crash, but both terms would be accurate). The S&P 500 lost 30% in a matter of weeks—and then regained it all inside of five months. The Covid Correction offers a key lesson: When stocks go through a correction, avoid overcorrecting. Panic moves only lock in losses and forfeit future gains.
Instagram account takeover hacks on the rise, ID theft organization says
Set up two-factor authentication now Consumers are reporting a recent rise in Instagram account hack attempts, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC). Victims find they are locked out of their accounts, and criminals are using these stolen Instas to set other digital traps. A hijacked account can be used to message followers and friends, for example, or can add legitimacy to a bogus post.
Required Minimum Distributions: How To Plan For RMDs
It’s smart to use tax-advantaged investment accounts to save for retirement. By investing money in a traditional 401(k) or individual retirement account, you can postpone paying taxes on your retirement funds for what might feel like an eternity. But postponement doesn’t mean you can avoid them forever; Uncle Sam eventually gets his share.
How To Maximize Your IRA Contributions
You put money in an individual retirement account (IRA). Great! A whopping 42% of those under 30—and 26% of those between 30 and 44—have no retirement savings, according to recent research by PwC. So just by doing that, you’re already ahead of the game. But don’t stop there. Many retirement savers make the mistake of throwing cash into an IRA every year at tax time and then don’t think much more about it. That neglect can cost you a lot of money, both today and at retirement age.
How To Boost Your Retirement Income
Editorial Note: Forbes Advisor may earn a commission on sales made from partner links on this page, but that doesn't affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Worried you might outlive your retirement savings? You’re not alone. That very real fear is called “longevity risk” by financial analysts, and it’s hardly the stuff of paranoia: Fully 49% of Americans say that they fear they’ll live longer than their retirement savings, according to SimplyWise.
Before we sit down for dinner, can I ask that you turn off your surveillance gadgets?
Jolynn Dellinger has asked friends to turn off their listening devices when she’s in their homes. What do you do if you think your friend is bugging you? I don't mean bothering you. I mean...bugging you...using a device to listen to you, maybe e1ven recording your conversations, when you visit their home. Well, that's the world most of us live in now. Personal assistants, many modern TVs, smart doorbells...they all incorporate listening devices. What if you don't want to be surveilled like that?
Inflation And Retirement Investments: What You Need To Know
Editorial Note: Forbes may earn a commission on sales made from partner links on this page, but that doesn't affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Uncle Sam has promised to spend at least $6 trillion in Covid-19 relief, and whenever the government writes checks that big, you can expect a lot of talk about the “i” word—inflation. Flooding an economy with extra cash can indeed lead to more dollars chasing the same goods, which is a classic recipe for rising prices.
Podcast: Listen to ID thief and her cast of characters fool consumers, banks
Almost 20 years ago, I wrote a book called Your Evil Twin - Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic. At the time, many consumers hadn't even heard of identity theft. Criminal imposters were just getting started. Today, it feels like ID theft is everywhere, hitting millions of consumers every year, roughly one in 20 US consumers annually costing 16 billion dollars, according to Javelin Strategy and Research.
Should You Pay Off Debt Or Save For Retirement? Original
It’s the Coke vs. Pepsi debate of personal finance. When you have extra money at the end of the month, should you pay down debt or bulk up your retirement savings? Ask this question at a party of financial advisors and you’ll get as many different answers as there are attendees. That’s good, because it’s a very personal decision. The answer should always depend on an individual’s financial situation and their emotional relationship to money.
4 Reasons To Start Saving In A Roth IRA
4 Reasons To Start Saving In A Roth IRA Bob Sullivan - Forbes Advisor Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) give investors a fantastic opportunity to save on taxes. Pay your future self by investing in an IRA, and you can also lower your income tax bill. Clever retirement investors know an even better strategy to minimize their taxes, though: Use a Roth IRA.
4 Reasons To Start Saving In A Roth IRA
4 Reasons To Start Saving In A Roth IRA Bob Sullivan - Forbes Advisor Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) give investors a fantastic opportunity to save on taxes. Pay your future self by investing in an IRA, and you can also lower your income tax bill. Clever retirement investors know an even better strategy to minimize their taxes, though: Use a Roth IRA.
4 Reasons To Start Saving In A Roth IRA
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) give investors a fantastic opportunity to save on taxes. Pay your future self by investing in an IRA, and you can also lower your income tax bill. Clever retirement investors know an even better strategy to minimize their taxes, though: Use a Roth IRA.
Report: Nation's top cybersecurity official out after contradicting Trump
Christopher Krebs, the top cybersecurity official in the U.S. government, expects to be fired soon by the White House, Reuters reported today. Krebs has worked to dispel misinformation and conspiracy theories about last week’s election — sometimes in direct contradiction of President Trump’s tweets.
SEP IRA vs Solo 401(k): Which Should You Choose?
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. The ranks of self-employed Americans are growing: Nearly 30% of American workers were self-employed in 2019, according to Gallup, and the coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated the trend toward self-employment.
4 Reasons To Start Saving In A Roth IRA
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) give investors a fantastic opportunity to save on taxes. Pay your future self by investing in an IRA, and you can also lower your income tax bill. Clever retirement investors know an even better strategy to minimize their taxes, though: Use a Roth IRA.
Guide To Dividend Investing For Beginners
Buying the stocks of companies that pay good dividends is one of the best ways to invest. Because you’re investing for slow, steady payments in more mature companies, some might even call dividend investing boring. But dependable returns are never boring. Earlier generations of investors favored dividend investing—and while those earlier generations enjoyed generally higher yields than are available today, there are still plenty of benefits to a dividend investing strategy. What Are Dividends?
How To Retire Early After A Layoff
Editorial Note: Forbes Advisor may earn a commission on sales made from partner links on this page, but that doesn't affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Kellye Connell Finch was living out her last year as a 50-something, coasting towards retirement, when downsizing abruptly changed her well-laid plans.
Venmo Adds New Feature and 3% Fee for ‘Refund Support’
Photo by WAYHOME studio / Shutterstock.com Peer-to-peer payment app Venmo has long told users not to use the service to pay strangers for goods or services. That appears to be changing. The service has quietly added a feature it’s calling the “Venmo Purchase Program.” For a hefty, optional 3% nonrefundable fee, which can be added on a per-transaction basis, Venmo says it will step in if users don’t get the item they purchased or it’s “a lot different” than the seller described.
Should You Buy a Pulse Oximeter for COVID-19?
Photo by Click and Photo / Shutterstock.com As COVID-19 attacks the human body, its targets seem capricious, even random. Some victims don’t even know they have the disease; others are felled by it after a seemingly mild case. One hint that a COVID-19 case is about to turn from mild to serious is low blood oxygen level, or SpO2, indicating that the lungs are no longer pushing sufficient oxygen into the bloodstream.
Here’s My Zoom Security Checklist
Photo by Roman Samborskyi / Shutterstock.com Zoom is the hit software product of the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s easy to see why. We all need to connect right now, and Zoom is really easy to use. That’s also the problem. Whenever a technology is easy to use, it’s often easy to exploit. And Zoom is finding that out the hard way. If you haven’t heard the word “Zoom-bombing” by now, you will.
What Can You Do with 60 Days? A Lot - Take the 2-Month Challenge
Photo by AT Production / Shutterstock.com “Do you realize this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay home and practice all day?” That’s the message a musician friend posted yesterday, and it stopped me in my tracks. June. I think we are all staring June in the face right now. The reality is, if all goes really well, we might think about slowly emerging from our stay-at-home bunkers in June. That’s two months, stuck at home.
Kids Studying at Home Now? Here Are 5 Survival Tips
Photo by Flamingo Images / Shutterstock.com Yesterday was the first day of home-schooling for millions of American families. We should all feel incredibly lucky that we live in a time when that’s even possible. Imagine a world, not long ago, where sending students home for two months would have meant complete disconnection from school.
Listen Carefully for Survivor Bias as You Hear Coronavirus Advice
Photo by Giulio_Fornasar / Shutterstock.com A plane crashes and all but one of the 137 passengers die. What does the one survivor do? He writes a best-selling book called “How to Survive a Plane Crash.” The one word you don’t see in the manuscript? Luck. That’s survivor bias, also called survivorship bias. You’re about to learn a lot more about it. It’s going to be absolutely essential as we try to understand what we should do in light of the coronavirus.
January Goals Fizzled? Try ‘Temptation Bundling’
Photo by Alliance Images / Shutterstock.com It’s the start of February — if that means your dry January ended yesterday, I toast you for making it! But usually, the change to February makes you realize you have abandoned all the good intentions you had on New Year’s Day. January is usually a harsh reminder of how hard it is to replace bad habits with good habits.
That Free Trial? Yeah, It Will Cost You
Photo by fizkes / Shutterstock.com Just don’t sign up for free trials. Odds are very high you’ll regret it. Perhaps you think you can outsmart the company offering them, but the more educated you are, the more likely you are to end up with surprise charges after a free trial. A new Bankrate study has found that 59% of consumers who have done a thing as foolish as forking over their credit or debit card information to sign up for a free trial have ended up with surprise charges.
Smartphone Hijacking Hits the Big Time - Here’s How to Protect Yourself
Photo by fizkes / Shutterstock.com It was a shock in August when Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account started sending out racist Tweets. He’d been hacked, of course, but perhaps the biggest shock of all was how easy it was — @jack was the victim of simple SIM card swapping. SIM “hacking” isn’t new — it’s basically cellphone hijacking — but it’s become much more important of late, for a whole host of reasons.
What’s in Your Wallet? A Lot Less Interest - Unless You Notice This 1 Word
Photo by letitbe / Shutterstock.com Turns out, Capital One is in fact anything but a-typical. Unless you are dead, you’ve seen the ads on TV for Capital One. A coffee shop in a bank? Capital One is anything but typical, we are told. And then the actor (Jeremy Brandt) tells us over and over, “One of the nation’s best interest rates!” True, but only if you are willing to play Cap One’s word games.
Want Your Equifax Hack Settlement Money? There’s More Red Tape Now
Photo by fizkes / Shutterstock.com This should come as a surprise to no one: Equifax is making hacked consumers wrestle with additional red tape. The firm is asking for more paperwork from consumers who were victimized by the credit bureau’s giant data breach in 2017. The additional red tape seems designed to shrink the ranks of consumers who will receive monetary compensation as the result of a settlement with the firm.
Zelle Hacker Steals $23,000 From Elderly Woman
Photo by Ruslan Huzau / Shutterstock.com Zelle hackers recently stole nearly $23,000 from an 86-year-old New Hampshire woman, draining her Bank of America checking and savings accounts, and the bank denied her dispute of the fraudulent charges for months. Criminals were able to complete eight separate $2,499 withdrawals from the victim’s account — $1 below the daily transfer limit, according to the victim’s son — calling into question the bank’s ability to spot obvious Zelle fraud, he said.
Milk Still Expires, But Now Your Passwords Won’t
Photo by Thomas Andreas / Shutterstock.com Who hasn’t been interrupted during some important task by a strictly-imposed network requirement to “update” a password? And who hasn’t solved this modern annoyance by some ridiculous, unsafe naming convention like “CorpPassword1 … CorpPassword2 … CorpPassword3” and so on? People already have 150 or so passwords they must remember. Forced expiration made this already untenable situation even worse — 150 new passwords every month or so?
The Side Income Trap, and the Rise of the ‘4-Income Household’
Photo by WAYHOME studio / Shutterstock.com The side hustle? It’s a trap! And if we’re not careful, we’re going to end up with a new economic category: the Four-Income Household. In fact, we might already be there. A new Bankrate survey found that 45% of American workers say they have a side hustle. At the moment, 3 in 10 hustlers who have full-time work say they need their side job to pay for the basics. But as I read the numbers, it’s worse than that.
Why Is My Sleep App Recording Me at Night?
Photo by Syda Productions / Shutterstock.com How would you feel if you discovered your smartphone was recording you while you sleep without your knowledge? Last year, the co-host of my new “So, Bob” podcast, Alia Tavakolian, came to me when she discovered a sleep app had made dozens of such recordings. Worse yet, to hear what was on the files, she had to pay $4.99 to access a “premium” feature.
She Sued Equifax and Won
Photo by Akugasahagy / Shutterstock.com If you’ve ever been wronged by a large company and wanted to do more than shake your angry fist at a building, you’re going to enjoy meeting Jessamyn West. When the Equifax hack hit, she wanted to do more than whine to friends and family. She wanted justice. So she filed a lawsuit in small claims court — and won. It was more than a stunt. West wanted to make a point far beyond the $690 she was awarded by the judge.
Zelle Fraudsters Find New Victim Pool: Consumers Who Don’t Even Use Zelle
Photo by Daniel M Ernst / Shutterstock.com Milt Tipperman had never heard of Zelle before April 18, but he learned about the peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app quickly when eight fraudulent Zelle transactions drained $800 from his checking account. “I was mad, and I still am,” says Tipperman, of Maryland. He says his bank, PNC, is investigating, but when I spoke to him on Monday, he was still short the money. “I have never used or even heard of Zelle before.
Can you sell your life insurance policy?
Older Americans looking to stretch their financial reserves through their golden years might find help from a surprising resource — their own deaths. Or more specifically, the sale of life insurance policies to investors hoping to profit from bets on when original policyholders die.
Best Buy to Move Into Lease-to-Own
Photo by Gorodenkof / Shutterstock.com Where can you buy a $1,000 TV for $2,169? That would be a Best Buy store near you. The electronics retail giant is poised to roll out a new “lease to own” program that sounds a lot like the Rent-A-Center or payday lending model. Consumers with little or no access to traditional credit can “buy” gadgets for a fraction of the cost up front, then make payments during a 12-month period through partner Progressive Leasing.
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