A lot of 401(k) investors end up making the same mistakes when choosing their investments. The results are low returns and unbalanced portfolios. Avoiding these four mistakes is a good start for getting more out of your 401(k). There is no easy answer to how you should allocate your 401(k). You have to make these decisions on your own based on your personal risk tolerance, investment choices and the allocation of your other investments. Mistake #1: Going Overboard on Risk Avoidance Many 401(k) plan participants are either overwhelmed by the list of investment choices or are simply afraid to take any risk in their investments, and so put all of their savings into a money market or stable value fund. Sometimes the money market fund is the default option for their employer’s plan — meaning their money ends up there, earning very low interest. Nobody bothers to change it. Money market and stable value funds are basically fancy words for cash, a low risk, low return investment, and the return from cash usually lags behind inflation. This means that a 401(k) in these safe investments will probably decline in value over time. For many folks, the investment horizon is long, so you can tolerate some volatility to get the higher returns later. Mistake #2: The Equal Allocation Trap Another common mistake made by investors in their 401(k)s is to invest an equal portion into each available investment option. This is called the 1/N Rule. There are many problems with taking this approach. First, you do not need to invest in every option available in your plan. Especially now that target date retirement funds (mutual funds that change allocation based on

In an increasingly paper-free society, organizing your financial documents can still be a challenge. No matter how simple or complex your financial picture might be, it takes some thought-out organization to keep your tax documents, service records, and paid bills in a format that will allow you to easily access information when you need it. What steps can you take now to organize your financial documents for 2021 and beyond? Clean and Evaluate If your financial files look more like a pile of loose papers, it’s time to clean up this pile and evaluate what you have. Broad category labels like “House,” “Bills,” “Healthcare,” or “Taxes” can be enough to help you begin sorting documents into piles. Once you have your documents organized into tidy piles (or online file folders), the next step is to determine what you need to keep. Saving documents you’ll never need again can lead to clutter and leave you unable to find information quickly. On the other hand, throwing something away too early (like W-2s or 1099s) can create a headache if you’re audited or need to go back to find something specific. Create a Filing System After you have a better idea of what financial documents you’re dealing with, you can create a filing system. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here, and the best filing system for you, is the one that is easiest for you to use. This can mean creating folders by month, keeping items segregated by category, or something else—whatever makes sense for you based on what you’re trying to keep organized. Decide on a Storage Option If you’re not a fan of paper clutter, your financial organization strategy may be to use a desktop scanner to scan and store

As a result of the Senate runoffs in Georgia, Democrats are poised to take control of the US Senate, which would give them a majority in both houses of Congress. This will shift the policy outlook moderately to the left, but majorities are still razor-thin, giving moderates heavy influence. We also envision a potential move toward increased bipartisanship, which may help bring more clarity to policy in 2021. Georgia on Our Mind Assuming the Georgia Senate races play out in line with the current vote count, Democrats will soon have control of both chambers of Congress as well as the presidency, at least until mid-term elections in 2022. While there is a material difference between the Senate flipping to Democratic control and Republicans holding the Senate, we don’t believe it’s a radical shift. The Democrat’s Senate majority will be razor thin, with the Senate split 50–50 and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris casting any tie-breaking vote. That means legislation will need to satisfy the most moderate Democratic Senators, such as West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Montana’s Jon Tester. If Democrats lose votes from the left wing of their party, they will need to pull in moderate Republicans as well. With such a narrow margin, eliminating the filibuster is basically off the table. On many key legislative issues, Senate Democrats will need to muster 60 votes. The Democratic majority in the US House also narrowed significantly in the 2020 election and currently stands at 222–211 with two vacancies, creating a similar challenge. Little Things Matter in Policy Historically, which party occupied the White House or controlled Congress hasn’t had a meaningful impact on broad stock market performance. Policy matters—but larger economic forces