Financial

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us. To celebrate, you may want to present your loved ones with chocolates, flowers or any number of other traditional gifts. But if your valentine also happens to be your spouse or your life partner, you also might want to show your love in another way — by making sure you have adequate insurance. Just consider some of the things that life insurance can do for you and your family: • Pay off your mortgage — With sufficient li ...

It’s Super Bowl time again. And whether you’re a sports fan or not, you can probably learn something from the Super Bowl teams that you can apply to other endeavors — such as investing. What might these lessons be? Take a look: • Pick players carefully. Super Bowl teams don’t usually get there out of luck; they’ve made it in part because they have carefully chosen their players.

You’ve no doubt heard that “time is money.” While this expression may be applicable in many areas of life, it’s especially relevant for investors — because the more time you spend not investing, the less money you are likely to have when you really need it, such as during your retirement.

While the election season heats up, you will hear more and more promises, claims and counter-claims from the candidates. As a citizen, you may or may not enjoy this “political theater,” but as an investor, you might be concerned over all the talk about taxes, Social Security, Medicare and other financial topics.

If you’re of a certain age, the new year means you’re that much closer to a day you may have anticipated with a combination of humor and resignation — specifically, the day you’re eligible for Social Security. But just because you can take Social Security, it doesn’t mean you must take it.

Once again, it’s time to make some New Year’s resolutions. This year, in addition to hitting the gym, learning that second language and getting better organized, why not also consider a few financial resolutions? What types of resolutions might you consider? Here are a few suggestions: • Contribute more to your retirement accounts.

You can’t predict how long you’ll live. Nonetheless, you still need to consider longevity as a key factor in creating, and following, a long-term investment strategy. And your projected lifespan may be longer than you had thought. Men who turned 65 in 2010 can expect to live another 18.6 years, while women who reached 65 that same year can anticipate another 20.7 years, according to the 2011 Social Security Trustees Report.

A tumultuous year for stocks. As 2011 winds up, many investors are more concerned with return of capital than return on capital. That is understandable; Wall Street faced some powerful headwinds this year. With little policy momentum to foster or aid any available economic momentum, U.S. and global indices were poised to finish the year with flat to poor annual returns. The debt crisis in Greece boiled over to Italy and touched Spain and France, scaring the world economy.

To participate in the spirit of the holiday season, you may be thinking of making some charitable gifts. If so, you’ll no doubt enjoy helping a group that does valuable work. But to begin with, it’s important to understand just how necessary your gifts are to the country’s social fabric. Given the effects of the Great Recession and the slow recovery, it’s not surprising to learn that charitable giving fell a combined 13% in 2008 and 2009, after adjusting for in ...

As an investor, you’ve pretty much seen it all in 2011 — including slow-but-steady gains early in the year, a market correction during the debt ceiling debate and the U.S. credit downgrade, and huge one-day price movements, both up and down — and there’s still a month to go. But despite the volatility of the past 11 months, you can make some positive year-end investment moves, including the following: • Boost your 401(k) contributions.