Every year you swear you’re going to save at least some of your tax refund. Every year, you end up spending every last cent.
Uncle Sam wants to help. He’s letting you directly deposit your refund money into up to three accounts. You can have a portion of the refund sent to your checking account to help you pay bills, another amount directed to savings and a third chunk of IRS cash sent straight into your individual retirement account.
And new for the 2010 filing season, you can tell the IRS you …

President Obama is launching an effort to help Americans save more for retirement, hoping a government nudge or two can get them to do what many are unable to do on their own.
The package includes programs to guarantee all workers access to a retirement plan through their jobs; expand the tax credits that reward saving for retirement; and tighten 401(k) regulations to make them safer and more efficient.
Most of the proposals have broad support at a time when retirement security is increasingly in jeopardy. Pensions are rapidly disappearing, 401(k) balances …

Don’t be surprised if your broker calls in the next few months and asks if you have thought about converting your traditional individual retirement account to a Roth I.R.a.

That’s because as of Jan. 1, anyone can convert their regular I.R.a. into a Roth regardless of income. before the rules changed, only people with modified adjusted gross incomes of $100,000 or less could convert their accounts.
So should you consider it?
Anyone who expects to land in a higher tax bracket in retirement should think about converting. With a Roth I.R.a., …

In a previous article, I wrote about Saving & Investing for Retirement. in that article, I wrote that the three investing accounts you need were a 401(k) plan, an IRA and a taxable account. like the three legs of a stool.
Your 401(k) is handled at your place of employment. Human Resources gives you all the forms and all you have to do is fill them out properly. All I have to say about 401(k) is be sure to contribute the maximum you can to get the company match.
But you have …