I always hear about teaching kids about money at a young age, letting them learn from mistakes, etc. I have been giving my pre-teen daughter an allowance for several years now. She gives some of it to charity regularly, but she never has any desire to spend the rest of it. We always remind her in stores if she seems something she wants, that she can get it with her money, but she never does. Is this typical behavior for a child this age? Most kids I see seem to always want to buy something. She keeps accumulating it. Is there any advice you can give for this situation?
As a mother of three, I’m constantly reminded of the ways that our children display their personalities. In school, at home, building friendships – they each have their own way of operating in the world and building their successes.
In addition to providing custodial, operational and trading support to registered investment advisors (RIAs), Schwab Advisor Services also tracks industry-wide information on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the RIA space. Schwab recently announced RIA M&A results for the first half of 2011, reporting a substantial jump in the amount of assets under management (AUM) that changed hands in the first half of this year...(Read More)
Answering Your Top Questions about 529 Plans
Guest post by Rande SpiegelmanQ: When looking to save for my kids' education should I fund a Coverdell first then a 529 or is it the other way around? When withdrawing funds to pay for education which plan should I draw down first Coverdell or 529? –Tom M.
My preference would be to fund the Coverdell first, up to the limit insofar as you’re eligible. Then, if you can save more go ahead and fund the 529 to the extent you’re able (you can contribute to both in the same year). With a Coverdell, you’ll generally have more flexibility with respect to investment choices and can withdraw the money tax-free for qualified K-12 expenses as well as college. Otherwise, the two accounts are very similar...
On the ground in NYC: A conversation with Jonathan Geiger on being an FC at Schwab
Posted by Sarah BulgatzFollowing our post last week, “Building our pipeline of new talent,” we thought it might be interesting to talk to one recent hire to get his perspective on what life as a financial consultant (FC) is like at Schwab.
Jonathan Geiger works in Schwab’s upper west side branch in NYC, located on Broadway between 83rd and 84th streets, one of eight Schwab branches in Manhattan. He spent more than 12 years at JP Morgan Asset Management prior to joining Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. last October, but hasn’t looked back since...(Read More)
The ability to own a piece of the company you work for—in the form of restricted stock or stock option awards—used to be reserved mostly for a company’s top executives. Now employees at many levels receive these “equity awards” as a way to boost compensation, reward good work and build company loyalty. These are typically stock option awards or shares of restricted stock in your employer’s company...(Read More)
Given some of the challenges of today’s markets and economy, many people are left confused and nervous about what it all means for them. To help sort through all the noise, we recently held a webcast with Schwab Chief Investment Strategist Liz Ann Sonders on weathering difficult markets and economic environments and how people should be approaching their investment philosophy and strategy. The webcast was broadcast live to more than 2,000 people online and in 115 Schwab branches around the country ...
While the U.S. unemployment rate is still hovering around 9%, we are actively hiring at Schwab. We’re looking for new talent across a variety of functions and locations, but in particular we’re seeking experienced Financial Consultants for many of our 300+ branches across the U.S.
What exactly is a Financial Consultant? “FCs,” as we call them in Schwab-ese...
Gold has received a lot of attention from investors and the media recently. Amidst a volatile month for the markets, gold reached a new high in August and zoomed past $1900 at one point as many investors fled equities for safe haven assets. But what’s really behind gold’s rising value and is it sustainable? To learn more about what’s driving the value of gold, we sat down with Stephen Cucchiaro, CIO of Windhaven Investment Management, a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation, whose three portfolio solutions became available to our retail investors in March.
Q: How do you value gold?
CUCCHIARO: The first thing that’s important to know is that people don’t understand gold well as an investment...
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