Our latest picks for the best investing and personal finance articles from around the web.
Where will the next crisis come from? (Schwab). How one major broker views the risk of an economic downturn.
On the benefits of paying down a mortgage before retirement (Morningstar). It takes more than a calculator to tally the benefits.
It’s tempting to take Social Security at 62. You should wait. (NY Times). While there are some people for whom claiming benefits as early as possible makes sense, most would be better off waiting.
Why people who claim Social Security early often live to regret it (MarketWatch). If you need another reason to wait, a new study found that claiming early “leads to a significant increase in the number of retirees living in poverty.”
What to do when your term life insurance is expiring (Kiplinger). You have options for extending your coverage, some of which didn’t exist when you bought your policy.
And from the blogosphere…
Revisiting the melt-up scenario (A Wealth of Common Sense). “Market tops are more of a process than an event.”
Lessons learned since the financial crisis (Validea). “The biggest losers tended to be those who panicked into selling at the bottom of the market.”
When tax-efficient asset placement doesn’t make much difference (The Finance Buff). Deciding which assets to hold in which accounts is a bit more complicated than you might imagine.
Concealed emotions (Collaborative Fund). Even the most objective investors are influenced by their emotions.
Medigap premiums differ by thousands (Squared Away). Why it’s so important to do some comparison-shopping.
We’d love to hear your responses to any of the above. To weigh in, just meet us in the comments section.