Are you thinking about saving for retirement with an advantage? If you are, then opening an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is something that will work great for you and fit the bill perfectly. You might be wondering what is an IRA, the plans available and if it is the right option.

AARP, or the American Association of Retired Persons, is a non-governmental and non-profit organization that works on a membership basis. It was established in 1958 through the efforts of Ethel Percy Andrus, a retired school teacher. Its main aim is to work towards improving the quality of life for all people as they age.

Currently, reward credit cards are one of the most talked about financial products in the market. The best part is that they are specifically tailored for purposes like travel, balance transfer, gas rewards and cashback. But having a rewards credit card also means incurring an annual fee. These can range anywhere from $25 to $2500.

An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is a portfolio of financial products like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and retirement savings accounts. IRA is an investing tool for retirement that is used to save and earmark funds for various investment purposes to financially secure your future. Contributions can be made to four popular types of IRA’s including traditional, Roth, Simple, and SEP IRAs.

The current economic conditions and shifting market trends will make significant impact in 2017. These two factors will play a major role when selecting the best Vanguard investments this year. A great challenge for investors is an apprehension that capital markets may overheat. As a smart investor, you must avoid the short-term noise and focus on the bigger cyclical trends.

There are numerous credit cards that offer cashback, reward points, air miles, hotel points, low APRs, 0% balance transfer, and other benefits. But which one is right for you? No single credit card offers the best of all these features. Some are better in some aspects, while others appeal to a different kind of customer.

The economy is more volatile and investors need to be cautious. There are bound to be under-performers and over-performers. The following are promising mutual funds that you can invest in this year. Vanguard 500 Index Fund: A broad index fund, this has a low expense ratio of 0.16 and requires a minimum investment of $3000.

Planning for retirement doesn’t have to be a chore, in fact, it can be made downright easy. With a good investment firm, a business jargon won’t be a hassle anymore. If you are new to the world of investments, and looking for options that can help you secure and save money for the future, then you must take a good look at these 3 investment firms.

A strong equity performance has been the trend with oil stocks in the market most of the time, and investing in stocks of oil companies is considered a good bet these days. Indeed, analysts are of the opinion that 2017 is the year to invest in oil stocks, or if you already have been dabbling in oil stocks, to increase their share and quantum in your portfolio.

Mostly every tax payer will have a few set of queries that needs to be answered promptly, before and during a tax return such as how much is he going to spend on taxes, how much he would get as tax refund and by when he would receive it? Of course, the first two questions can’t be answered with much promptness, but if you had filed your federal taxes electronically using a software program or with the IRS E-File you might make an approximate guess of when you would receive your tax refund.

Is investing in oil stocks a good move this year? If yes, then which companies should you be looking at? Oil producers, oilfield service companies, equipment firms? The fact of the matter is that the oil industry still has a strong future. Oil producing nations have all been maintaining compliance and reducing their oil output as per OPEC stipulations, and though this has not achieved as much of a change in oil prices as expected and thus the oil market is rather dull at the moment.

One of the most beneficial advantages of balance transfer credit cards includes transferring your existing debt from a high-interest credit card to a low-interest credit card. In the case of a high-interest credit card or cards for that matter, the repayment will take a hefty toll on your finance after meeting interest payments and principal payments.

Budgeting is important, only then we can manage to save. Once we develop the habit of saving money, we can never go over our set budget. Saving money is more important, especially if you are on a tight budget. Working on a tight budget can be difficult for someone who is not used to it, but once you start saving, you will realize that your needs can be fulfilled even if your budget is low.

Just as the name suggests, an ’emergency fund’ is a fund, which can be used in times when you have no other funds to fall back on. It is used to fulfill a shortfall when something unpredictable comes up in the future. Since it is a reliable fund it needs to hold various guaranteed investments.