The approach of the end of the year is a good time to think about maximizing your annual contributions to your retirement account(s), whether these are part of an employer-based plan (401k, 403b, 457) or are individual accounts (IRA, Roth IRA).…But many people are not exploiting these pre-tax retirement savings vehicles to their fullest extent because they are not aware of all the rules, some of them admittedly esoteric.

Bonds are an important ingredient in many portfolios....But now is a tricky time to invest in bonds: not only are yields disappointingly low, but bond prices are largely falling as interest rates rise.