Personal Finance
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How to Have More Productive Conversations About Money
Certain phrasing can help your clients think long term about their finances.
Our Top Financial Resolutions for 2023
Morningstar staffers resolve to sell losers, pick winners, and prioritize our children’s futures.
6 Conversations About Money to Have With Your Family Over the Holidays
Carve out some time to discuss financial planning.
What We’ve Learned From Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
How these legendary investors have inspired the financial world and shaped the way we think at Morningstar.
Financial Fraud Is Real—Here’s How to Protect Your Money
Watch out for these red flags.
What Risks Lurk in Each Asset Class?
A field guide to the key risks for investors in stocks, bonds, and yes, cash.
How to Best Leave an IRA to Charity
Charitable giving can become messy when it involves multiple beneficiaries and retirement and nonretirement assets.
The One Form That IRA Holders Should Scrutinize
A mistake on this form can cost investors money and lead to needless audits.
How to Best Leave an IRA to Charity
Charitable giving can become messy when it involves multiple beneficiaries and retirement and nonretirement assets.
Handling HSAs After Death or Divorce
Many health savings accounts have grown quite large and merit careful consideration in divorce or inheritance planning.
Saving and Student Debt Don't Mix
School loans can crowd out a consumer's ability to save for a rainy day.
Tax Advice for the President-Elect
Trump has an important RMD decision to make for himself this year and could provide some much-needed tax reform for the rest of us, writes columnist Natalie Choate.
A Guide to Qualified Charitable Distributions
Who can do these beneficial transfers, with how much money, to what kinds of charities--and how to execute (and report) the QCD.
Handling HSAs After Death or Divorce
Many health savings accounts have grown quite large and merit careful consideration in divorce or inheritance planning.
Two Accounts, Same Amounts, but Different RMDs for Surviving Spouse
Unlike other tax-deferred account types, IRAs have a unique 'minimum distribution rule' for surviving spouses.
Missed the Rollover Deadline? Now You Can Help Yourself
New self-certification procedure will enable some investors to issue their own hardship waivers of the 60-day deadline for completing the rollover of a retirement plan distribution.
12 No-Tax and Low-Tax Retirement Plan Distributions
If a recipient qualifies for one of these deals, the distribution may be taxed more favorably than as a 100% taxable chunk of ordinary income.
It Pays to Shop Around for HSAs
Settling for underperforming funds or high fees is costly.
Retirement Accounts: Keep Contributing After Age 70 1/2?
It may sound strange, but this technique can work well in some circumstances.
2 Key Home-Sale Tax Rules for Surviving Spouses
Widows and widowers may be eligible to use the full $500,000 home-sale exclusion and should learn the rules for stepping up the cost basis on their home.
Annuity Inside an IRA: Know the Rules
Although both immediate and deferred annuity contracts can be held in an IRA, they have very different consequences under the minimum distribution rules.
Using Risk Measures on Morningstar Fund Reports
No one metric can tell you everything, but taken together these can give you a good sense of a fund's risk profile.
Don’t Get Caught by These 10 Behavioral Pitfalls
Successful investing requires a rare ability to overcome one's own psychological weaknesses--but you have to identify them first.
How Many IRAs Should You Have?
There are some legal mandates for keeping IRAs separate, as well as possible beneficiary- and investment-related reasons.
How Student Debt Affects Retirement Wealth
Study finds a crowding-out effect on savings.
RMD Dilemma: Death in the Age 70 1/2 Year
Required distributions can get complicated and confusing when someone dies just before his or her 'required beginning date.'
Choate: Navigating My First RMD
Calculating required minimum distributions on Traditional IRAs, Roths, QLACs, deferred variable annuities, and SEP-IRAs is even more complicated than you might expect.
Inherited IRA Owners: Watch Out for These Plan Administrator Snafus
Be forewarned about how transfers and rollovers can get bungled.
Tax Reporting for Your IRA
Some forms you must file, but others you should file even if not required.
Why HSAs Are Underused
Behavioral barriers may be stopping workers from taking full advantage of the benefits of health savings accounts.
Planning for the Dementia Factor in Retirement
Consider these options if you think an IRA beneficiary may develop a mental disability.
Excess IRA Contributions: How to Fix Them
Mind the deadline for taking a 'corrective distribution.'
How to Make Money Last in Retirement
A trio of retirement experts discusses how withdrawal rates, asset allocation, Social Security decisions, and long-term-care insurance factor into a retirement portfolio's sustainability.
Social Security: 4 Filing Pitfalls
Don't overweight break-even analyses, trap yourself with early claiming, or fail to strategize with your spouse, says retirement expert Phil Moeller.
3 Ways to Maximize Social Security Benefits
Understand the implications of your benefit choices, which additional benefits you may be eligible for, and when to claim, says retirement expert Phil Moeller.
Optimizing a Retirement Portfolio for Income
Long-term government bonds, emerging-markets debt, and preferred stocks may take prominence for retirees who wish to live solely off a portfolio's income stream.
How Big Should Your Emergency Fund Be?
Consider these levers to better size your own emergency fund, says HelloWallet consumer-finance expert Aron Szapiro.
Converting to a Roth IRA? Answer These 3 Questions First
Ask yourself when you'll need the money, what your future tax bracket may be, and where you'll find the money to pay the taxes due upon conversion.
IRA Contribution Tips and Traps
The key differences between Roth and Traditional IRA contributions, the pitfalls of backdoor Roth conversions, and the importance of spousal contributions and beneficiary forms.
All Your Eggs in One Basket: Assessing the Risk of Using Just One Fund Company or Brokerage
Financial fraud, hacking, and stewardship concerns all factor into the decision.
How to Cope With a Lousy 401(k)
Morningstar director of personal finance Christine Benz offers her ideas for how to make the most of an uninspiring 401(k) plan.
Rethinking the Need for Long-Term Care Insurance
A recent study suggests that more people than previously thought will require long-term care at some point but that their need will last for a shorter period of time.
Is Your Personality Impacting Your Portfolio?
Research suggests certain personality traits can influence a range of investment decisions and outcomes.
Whatever Your Portfolio Approach, These Funds Can Help
Whether you want an all-in-one fund or are worried about tax implications or volatility, we've got fund picks for you.
Our Picks for Alternatives and Other Diversifiers
Beyond conventional stock and bond funds, these analyst-vetted offerings can add extra dimension to your portfolio.
Our Picks for Fixed-Income Investors
Morningstar analysts have sorted out the best bond funds to balance out your portfolio.
Bond-Fund Basics
Consider these key factors before you go bond-fund shopping.
Our Picks for Foreign-Stock Investors
Let us steer you in the right direction with this selection of analyst-approved foreign funds and stocks.
Our Picks for U.S. Stock Investors
We've hand-picked stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs that can serve as key building blocks for your portfolio.