I found most advise of Mr.Ball to be incorrect. It is almost impossible to buy bonds with maturities under 6 years.

Gary Ball excellent. Down to earth, unpretentious, sensible. Been in the business for nearly 25 years, so well know what a good advisor says. He's one.

To make saving for your retirement mandatory needs to start in KINDERGARTEN--teaching to save! And that means we are trying to change the culture of spending, spending, spending to keep our economies going. So really, in my opinion the idea of saving goes counter-culture. And we will have a very hard time getting people to save.

Isn't it a bit of a fallacy that taxes always go up?
http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2007/11/03/nytimes-historical-tax-rates-by-income-group/

The highest earners have had their taxes drop significantly, and the lowest wage earners also dropped a bit.

Please.
Unless there is a major re-distribution of the country's wealth, no investment vehicle can yield so-called middle class or working class people enough to sustain their current standard of living into their retirement years. That's why many of us will have to continue working until we drop dead.

For married couples in the New York metro area, it's pretty common to go over the income limits for IRAs. Are there any good alternatives?

Hi, I am residing abroad now. I have always contributed to my Roth-IRA until I left for work. Is it true that I cannot contribute to my Roth-IRA while I live abroad? What happens if I do it anyway??
Thanks!!

What about SEP IRAs?

Just turned 30, but am still in graduate school. I've accrued some money in IRA accounts--Roth, traditional, and rolled over 401k from previous employment. What kind of mix of investments should I have in my portfolio? How aggressive can I be at this age and at later stages of my life with these funds?

I lost a LOT of my retirement money in the crash, and while some of it has come back, I now have my 403(b) in Treasury bonds. I know this isn't really smart, but I'm spooked. What do you recommend?

Saving for retirement should be mandatory. Given the choice most people will not save for retiremnet. Thats why Social Security is so great and it works, its mandated.

401K, IRA etc... are optional and will not work for most people... we will learn that terrible lesson at some point in the near future.

I'm in my late 20s, and never worked at a company that contributes to a 401k. Is there any point in signing up for it anyway, or should I get an IRA instead? And is there data out there on what percentage of businesses contribute to their employees' 401ks, and whether the trend is going down?