Principal Financial Group

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional

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

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. We have created this Web site to help you gain a better understanding of the financial concepts behind insurance, investing, retirement, estate planning, and wealth preservation strategies. Most important, we hope you see the potential value of working with professionals 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 us often. Be sure to add our site to your list of "favorites" in your Internet browser. We frequently update our information, and we wouldn’t want you to miss any developments in the area of personal finance.

 
Calculators

Life Expectancy

Knowing your likely life expectancy is an important factor in making long-term financial plans.

Net Worth

A balance sheet summarizes your assets and liabilities and reveals your net worth.

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?

More Calculators →

Newsletters

Leaving Your Home Out of the Retirement Equation

Plummeting home prices and increased borrowing cut U.S. home equity by more than 60% during the Great Recession — and housing prices have not yet recovered. This article considers the potential drawbacks of depending on home equity to help fund retirement.

HOT TOPIC: Breaking Down the Debt-Ceiling Compromise

The Budget Control Act of 2011 raised the federal debt ceiling, mandated modest but significant caps on discretionary spending over the next ten years, and left the details of larger deficit reduction to a 12 member, bipartisan “super committee.” The main provisions of the law include the assumption that higher tax rates will return in 2013.

Using Living Benefits for Retirement Income

Many Americans are finding it difficult to predict how much they can save by retirement. Because traditional pensions are available to just one out of three workers today, a potential way of creating a guaranteed income stream in retirement is to purchase the guaranteed living benefits that are available with some variable annuities.

The Dynamics That Can Drive Inflation

High unemployment and slow wage growth seem to have kept consumer spending and core inflation from growing very rapidly in the first half of 2011. This article reminds investors to keep the potential risk of inflation in mind, because even modest price increases compounded over time can erode the purchasing power of the assets in their portfolios.

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