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As the year draws to a close, there might be a slew of tasks on your to-do list. One task to consider is setting up a meeting with your financial professional to review your investments. If you take the time to get organized now, it may help you accomplish your long-term goals more efficiently. Here are some steps that might help.

529 plans are savings vehicles tailor-made for college. Anyone can open an account, lifetime contribution limits are typically over $300,000, and 529 plans offer federal and sometimes state tax benefits if certain conditions are met. Here are some common questions on opening an account.

As the end of the 2015 tax year approaches, set aside some time to evaluate your situation and consider potential opportunities. Effective year-end planning depends on a good understanding of both your current circumstances and how those circumstances might change next year.

Do you really know as much as you think you do about your 401(k) plan? Let's find out.

Whenever an individual legally changes his or her name, it is important to contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) as soon as possible. Failure to notify the SSA of a name change could prevent your wages from being posted correctly to your Social Security earnings record and might even result in a delay when you file your taxes.

The advantages of tax deferral are often emphasized when it comes to saving for retirement. So it might seem like a good idea to hold off on taking taxable distributions from retirement plans for as long as possible.

Life insurance has long been recognized as a useful way to provide for your heirs and loved ones when you die. Naming your policy's beneficiaries should be a relatively simple task. However, there are a number of situations that can easily lead to unintended and adverse consequences. Here are six life insurance beneficiary traps you may want to avoid.

Different types of investments are subject to different types of risk. On days when you notice that stock prices have fallen, for example, it would not be unusual to see a rally in the bond market.

As you may have seen, the market has had a rough start today. We woke to find the market at a 1000 point loss, after 2 days of losses last week plus margin and computer sell offs at the open from an overnight shift in the Chinese markets. 

According to the National Women's Business Council, nearly 8 million women-owned businesses exist in the United States. Women-owned firms comprise 28.7% of all nonfarm businesses and generate more than $1.2 trillion in revenue.