MarketWatch Adviser

Work and retirement

Going off Track
Missing the target
Target-date funds were supposed to get less risky as retirement neared, but for many investors things haven't turned out that way.

Retirement investing
Withdrawal gains
 Ways to make your money last longer in retirement.

Get more for retirement
The best 401(k) plans give workers a complete picture of their savings. Here's how to tell if yours measures up.
• Reduce retirement risk
 • Keep retirement plans on track
 • Retirement red flags

Fixes for your 401(k)
Five ways to know if the mutual funds in your retirement plan are any good.
• How to survive a layoff

Tax strategies

ROBERT POWELl
 Save for the day
 IRA savers can get tax relief without waiting for lawmakers to act.

Put paycheck to work
 Your paycheck stub can offer ways to save you money.

Convenience costs
 Sending your tax refund directly to an IRA is a great retirement savings strategy ... isn't it? One adviser says: No way.

Keep tax returns safe from theft
The Internal Revenue Service is deflecting concerns that its computer network leaves taxpayer information open to wrongdoers.

ETF Investing
Buy-and-hold with ETFs
How to use ETFs for a diversified, long-term investing plan.
• Dangers of leveraged ETFs

investment Themes for 2009
Ten for the money
 Anything other than cash might seem like a poor idea, but there are investments that can stand up to whatever 2009 deals out.

Personal Adviser
Over a windfall
You can quickly fall out of the money if you're not careful about managing an unexpected amount of cash, says Elaine Scoggins.

The reviews are in
The bear market is a good time to put a high price on the financial advice you get -- and not settle for anything less, writes Bob Clark.
• How to tune out the bear

Recession-proof bonds
High-quality stocks aren't the only smart investments in a weak economy. Corporate bonds can be a portfolio booster as well, writes portfolio manager Alex Anderson Jr.

Chuck Jaffe
 Gone and best forgotten
A  last, unsentimental look at some mutual funds that passed on in 2008, and acknowledging the lives they wrecked.
• Season's gratings with Lump of Coal awards
• More Lump of Coal awards
 • For advisers, more questions than answers

Dream portfolio
You can invest well and rest easier, in good markets or in bad, without loading up on stocks, writes Jonathan Burton. 
• Think stocks are cheap? It's all in the earnings

Stay on top of a shaky market
A properly diversified portfolio is more important now than ever.
 • Financial advisers offer little solace  

Life savings
 Bear-market messages
Investors expect more from financial advisers when stocks are heading south. They especially want better communication and strong, disciplined decisions.

Move over, mutual funds
Financial advisers are giving funds the heave-ho and embracing exchange-traded funds.
• Pay attention to funds' back-office moves
 • Influential newsletter publisher under pressure

Ten for the road
Ten international stocks that investment experts say you can own for decades.
• Stand by your investment plan

Portfolio health
Plunge protection
 Ten commandments for investors to live by as stocks churn.
• Signs that signal a market recovery

 
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