Retire with MONEY

by Brenda Richardson When Lindsey Morris saw a contemporary two-story house for sale online, she knew it was “the one.” It was a unique property for the Canton, Michigan area. “Most of the homes are either quad levels or colonials,” said Morris. “This one was modern, it stood out.” After touring on a Thursday in early July, Morris was sure the house would sell quickly.

by Jason Steele It’s really hard to match the benefits of the American Express Platinum — which, like that of other travel rewards cards, are most valuable to frequent travelers. But if you’re grounded these days due to travel restrictions and concerns surrounding COVID-19, is this card still worth its annual fee? While the American Express Platinum is loaded with perks and benefits, its big drawback is the BIG annual fee: $550.

by Elizabeth O'Brien Nearly a quarter of Baby Boomers plan to postpone their retirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey, and about the same number say the crisis has changed when they plan to claim their Social Security benefits. Some 24% of those 56 and older say the pandemic has caused them to push back their planned retirement date, according to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Nationwide Retirement Institute.

by Aly J. Yale Mason and Taylor Miranda desperately wanted to buy a house before starting a family. Their apartment was small, it was in an unsafe area, and it just wasn’t a suitable place to welcome their first child. The only problem? A 20% down payment was way out of reach for the couple. In fact, according to Mason, even a medium-sized down payment would have put them “in a financial pickle.

by Martha C. White Gold recently hit a record high. Owning gold as part of your investment portfolio may still make sense — if your goal is protect yourself against a volatile stock market, rather than chase profits. The price of gold reached its highest-ever on Monday, with spot prices briefly touching nearly $1,944 per ounce, well above the previous record of roughly $1,921 that was set in September 2011. Gold prices tend to rise when the value of the U.S. dollar or Treasury yields fall.

by Mallika Mitra If you were the kickball team captain on the playground, you tried to pick the teammates who would help you win. If you’re an investor in the stock market, the strategy might have followed you into adulthood. “Whether it's a hedge fund or new-to-market Robinhood traders, there’s a cult of trying to pick the winners,” says Ryan Giannotto, director of research at GraniteShares. But he implements a different strategy: eliminate the losers.

by Mallika Mitra A ding on your credit score sounds bad. And if you’re applying for a loan or line of credit and a lender reviews your credit report, you could definitely see that hit to your credit score. But experts say not to worry. “One single inquiry is not going to send your credit score to the basement,” says Bruce McClary, vice president of communications for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

by Mallika Mitra Coronavirus cases are surging again in many parts of the country. Because the pandemic hobbled the stock market in March, you may once again be wondering: “Will my retirement savings be okay?” The average 401(k) balance shrank by 19% in the first quarter of 2020, according to Fidelity Investments. This came as the S&P 500 dropped 12.5% over the month of March. People took notice — not action.

by Mallika Mitra Private equity has long been an investment vehicle used mostly by institutions and the wealthy. Now it could be coming to your 401(k). The Department of Labor (DOL) opened up the possibility of private equity in retirement accounts in an informational letter in June.

by Chris Taylor Sustainable investing seems to be taking over the world, and for good reason: It has an elegant thesis, of betting on companies that are virtuous and avoiding the ones that aren’t. Easy, right? Well, real life is never quite as simple as that. Figuring out which companies perform well in terms of ESG – environmental, social and governance factors – is a highly complicated business that is evolving by the day.

When the coronavirus outbreak started to hit Americans’ wallets earlier this year, lawmakers got busy. They gave out stimulus checks, offered special forbearance policies and even approved an extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits. At the time, the hurdle was getting those initiatives off the ground. The end dates seemed like a future problem; deadlines were something to be dealt with in the summer. Surely things would be back to normal by then.

by Mallika Mitra If you walked into Teni East Kitchen in Oakland, California, before March, you’d have smelled the Burmese restaurant’s coconut shrimp curry and perhaps sampled dishes like the signature pea shoot salad.

by Kenadi Silcox Doctors have made virtual house calls during the pandemic, allowing patients to maintain appointments through their smartphones and computers. But how long will it last? Before the coronavirus, only 13% of patients in the U.S. had experienced a telehealth (also known as digital health) appointment with their doctors, according to consumer research firm Piplsay. That number tripled almost overnight, with a third of Americans opting for telehealth during the pandemic.

by Alina Dizik. Retirement experts love to theorize about how best to plan for the thirty-plus years you hope to enjoy after hitting age 65. When Jack Guttentag — who turned 96 last December — gives advice, he’s speaking from experience. Guttentag, an economist who retired from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in the late 1990s, founded the website the Mortgage Professor in 2011, which he still runs.

by Chris Taylor It’s one of the most enduring stock market debates of all time: Value versus growth. In recent years, though, it’s been a pretty one-sided bout. A growth-oriented investing approach has walloped value for years, and in 2020 in particular, the referee might have to step in and stop the fight. In the year’s first half, according to research shop Morningstar, the firm’s U.S. Growth Index is beating its U.S. Value Index by more than 33 percentage points – a 14.