Byron Watkins & Marta Curry, Waddell & Reed

Waddell & Reed, Inc.
Investing. With a Plan.®

Welcome to our Web site, where you’ll find a wealth of information in the form of newsletter articles, calculators, research and more. 

We hope your visit will help you understand the opportunities and potential rewards that are available when you take a proactive approach to your personal financial situation. This Web site was created to help you gain a better understanding of the financial concepts behind insurance, investing, retirement, estate planning, and wealth preservation. Most important, we hope you see the value of working with a skilled professional to pursue your financial goals.

We're here to help educate you about the basic concepts of financial management; to help you learn more about who we are; and to give you fast, easy access to market performance data. We hope you take advantage of this resource and visit often. Be sure to add this site to your list of "favorites" in your Internet browser. Information is updated frequently, and we wouldn’t want you to miss any developments in the area of personal finance.

College Funding

Use this calculator to estimate the cost of your child’s education, based on the variables you input.

Cost of Retirement

Use this calculator to estimate how much income and savings you may need in retirement.

Impact of Inflation

Estimate the future cost of an item based on today’s prices and the rate of inflation you expect.

Loan Payoff

How much will it cost to pay off a loan over its lifetime?

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Another Economic Stimulus

Temporary incentives could affect businesses of all sizes. Although Congress was unable to tackle the controversial issue of future income tax rates before the 2010 midterms, it quietly passed a little-noticed tax package, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2009 (H.R. 5297), that may benefit small businesses and even individual taxpayers.

Giving the Gift of Knowledge

A college education is still a good investment. Consider this statistic: The overall unemployment rate reached as high as 9.9% in 2010, but for workers with a bachelor's degree or higher, it did not exceed 5.1%. But a college education can be expensive. There is a tax-advantaged way to accumulate money for a child's or grandchild's education: a Section 529 plan.

Protecting What May Be Your Most Valuable Asset

Statistics indicate 43% of 40-year-olds will suffer at least one long-term disability (lasting 90 days or longer) before age 65. Disability income insurance could help protect your most valuable asset: your ability to earn an income.

Deciding When to Begin

Waiting until full retirement age (or up to age 70) to claim Social Security may result in significantly higher monthly benefits. At age 62, the earliest age to claim Social Security, the amount received could be only 70% of the benefit received at "full retirement age" (which ranges from age 65 to 67 depending on year of birth).

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