Market downturns may be a reminder that it’s important to regularly review your portfolio and make sure your mix of investments is still appropriate. If it's been a long time since you created your mix of investments or if your situation or feelings about risk have changed, you may want to review or update your plan. The goal is to have a plan that makes sense regardless of short-term market conditions.

The spread of the coronavirus beyond China suggests that the earnings recovery could happen later than investors had expected. If stock valuations fall while earnings remain flat for several more quarters, a 5%–10% pullback in stocks is possible. In that scenario, gold, investment-grade bonds, and high-quality dividend-yielding stocks could outperform. As always, it's important to be sure your asset mix fits your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. If you are uncertain, consider calling a Fidelity financial advisor.

When my husband and I finally fought our way to debt freedom, it was a huge relief. Where we once had a ton of bills to pay and keep track of, we were finally down to living expenses only—things like our mortgage, groceries, and utilities. And while money stress had once been a fixture of our daily lives, after paying off our last dollar of non-mortgage debt, our financial situation became crystal clear and effortless overnight.

Debt-free for only a few days, we began mapping out our future. Our core group of short-term goals included bumping up our college savings, investing even more for retirement, and starting targeted savings accounts for emergencies and rainy days. Beyond those objectives, we also wanted to retire early, pay for our children's college educations in their entirety, and avoid ever falling into the trap of debt again.

The feeling of debt freedom was absolutely wonderful, and we were so excited...

A couple with similar incomes and ages and long life expectancies may want to consider maximizing lifetime benefits by both delaying their claim. For couples with big differences in earnings, consider claiming the spousal benefit, which may be better than claiming your own. A couple with shorter life expectancies may want to consider claiming earlier.

History suggests that US stock market returns are correlated with the presidential election cycle. The first 2 years of a presidential term have been associated with below-average returns, while the last 2 years have been well above-average. But there are some clear exceptions. So always focus first on the economy and corporate earnings.

We offer multiple ways to help you evolve your options trading strategy, be more effective with your research and analysis, and better leverage our trading platforms and tools. Choose the way you prefer to learn.

Emerging market stocks and bonds represent long-term investment opportunities that can help diversify investors' portfolios. But volatility may continue, despite a US-China trade deal. And performance is likely to vary across countries and industries. Among potential outperformers: India and well-run companies in the industrials, consumer technology and health care industries. Careful security and fund selection by professional managers is important.

Nearly 8 out of 10 workers (78%) live paycheck to paycheck, according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.com.1 That's up from 75% last year, and it applies even to those making 6 figures: 1 in 10 workers making $100,000 or more say they live paycheck to paycheck.

"In working with many clients over the years, I have found that most people tend to spend their entire paycheck if it is available in their bank account, regardless of whether they are at a low/middle level or are highly compensated," says Marc Kodomatsu, a financial planner in Lake Oswego, OR.

If you're putting away adequate savings for your goals and you have a healthy emergency fund, living paycheck to paycheck isn't necessarily a disaster. But a quarter of Americans have no money saved for an emergency, according to Bankrate, and 20% have less than 3 months of living expenses in the bank.2

"The events in Houston are a stark reminder of the...

A widely followed market theory, popularized by The Stock Trader's Almanac, claims that as January goes, so goes the full year. With a down January 2020 in the books, one interpretation of this indicator says investors may want to exercise caution for the rest of the year. But there are reasons to take the January barometer with a grain of salt.

Faced with mounting pension costs and greater volatility, companies are increasingly offering their current and former employees a critical choice: Take a lump-sum payment now or hold on to their pension plan.

"Companies are offering these buyouts as a way to shrink the size of future pension obligations, which ultimately reduces the impact of that pension plan on the company's financials," says John Beck, senior vice president for benefits consulting at Fidelity Investments. "From an employee's perspective, the decision comes down to a trade-off between an income stream and a pile of money that's made available to him or her today."

Pension buyouts can be offered to any current or former employee of a firm. You may have a vested benefit from a former employer, or your current company may be offering you a pension lump-sum buyout long before you retire.

Whatever the case, here's how a pension lump-sum payment offer typically works: Your employer issues a...

Consistently saving a little bit more can add up over time. Whether it's $10 or $100, saving money early in life, doing it consistently, and increasing the amount you're able to save over time can help you live the life you want in retirement.

While every company may be unique, a company's total market value—its market capitalization, or market cap, for short—is widely used to create a context for judging company financial performance and business outlook.

Larger companies tend to have more broadly diversified business structures than smaller firms. This may give them more stable business performance from year to year, with relatively less variable earnings and revenue streams. As a result, large companies may have less volatile share prices than smaller firms in many circumstances. Large companies generally have also tended to be the least sensitive to economic headwinds.

Smaller companies, on the other hand, tend to have a tighter business focus. They may have the potential for more rapid revenue and profit growth, but this potential is often more variable. As a result, small-company shares may be, on average, more volatile and more sensitive to macroeconomic shifts than...

"The price of oil has been volatile recently due to concerns about demand growth as well as geopolitical factors, including increased tension between the US and Iran, and I think specific exploration & production (E&P) companies would benefit notably if we see a rising price trend," says Nathan Strik, portfolio manager of Fidelity® Select Natural Resources Portfolio (FNARX).

The rate of US shale-oil production growth slowed in 2019, Strik says, as E&P companies were more targeted with their investments and more focused on generating free cash flow (FCF).

Parts of the Eagle Ford region in South Texas and the Bakken region in North Dakota and Montana have become quite mature, and the Anadarko in Oklahoma has disappointed, he says, making future growth more dependent on the Permian Basin in West Texas.

Trouble is, industry assumptions about the potential of the Permian have proven to be overly optimistic in many cases.

There are many very...

One way to invest with the business cycle and diversify an equity portfolio is using sector-based securities and funds. In order to employ this type of strategy, you should know how sectors and industries are comprised.

Investors can roll after-tax money in a workplace plan, like a 401(k), into a Roth IRA. Though the contributions were made after-tax, earnings on after-tax contributions are treated as pre-tax money. To roll after-tax money to a Roth IRA, earnings on the after-tax balance must, in most cases, also be rolled out. Depending on the plan, it may be necessary to roll out any other pre-tax money too. Rolling pre-tax balances into a traditional IRA is not a taxable event. Any partial rollover of after-tax contributions and their earnings must be done in the same proportion to their levels in the workplace plan. Consult a tax advisor before making a decision, to make sure you’re not losing other potential tax advantages such as net unrealized appreciation for employer stock or early withdrawal exemptions.

Filing your taxes early could protect you from identity theft. Getting started ahead of time gives you plenty of time to look for opportunities to reduce your taxable income. If you end up owing money, starting early can mitigate some of the sticker shock since you'll have time to plan how to make the payment.

We offer multiple ways to help you evolve your options trading strategy, be more effective with your research and analysis, and better leverage our trading platforms and tools. Choose the way you prefer to learn.

The coronavirus that originated in China rattled stocks in the US but historically, global viral outbreaks have caused only short-term volatility. In the past, economic activity has been disrupted for a few months, but soon recovered. In the near term, the coronavirus may affect Q1 economic growth in China if it follows historical patterns. For investors, market volatility may be an opportunity to ensure that your investment mix continues to align with your time frame, risk tolerance, and financial situation.

It's funny, given how invested I am in health savings accounts (HSAs)—both literally and figuratively—to think back to how little I knew about them before I started at Fidelity.

Like many young people early in their careers, I was much more familiar with flexible spending accounts (FSAs) when I arrived. But these days, now that I manage a team that specializes in helping employees understand how to prepare for health care issues in retirement, I feel compelled to sing the praises of HSAs—especially to other young investors who might overlook them, as I once did.

In a nutshell, HSAs are a triple-tax-advantaged resource that help those with high-deductible health plans save money for current and future qualified health care expenses, like dental and vision care, out-of-network doctor visits, prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs.

There are 4 key benefits1 of HSAs that people often aren't aware of. The...