Regardless of your stage in life, one of the fundamental building blocks of a solid financial plan is emergency savings.According to a 2014 Bankrate survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, 60 percent of Americans could not afford to pay for most unexpected expenses. Without an emergency fund, you may be just one unforeseen accident or event away from a serious financial setback.The following are the five W’s for building emergency savings.WHO needs an emergency fund?

The 2.5% Step-Up Program allows members to increase their retirement benefits by paying an additional member contribution each pay period. Currently, that additional contribution is 2.91% of your compensation and is subject to change.The additional Step-Up contributions are used to increase the computation factor when benefits are calculated. The standard retirement benefit calculation for most OPERS members uses a benefit computation factor of 2%. (more)

Retirement is a life-altering process for most of us, just like moving, losing a job, or death of a family member. All of these changes can cause stress and negatively impact our daily life.

Retirement can also be a stressful time for those not retiring. Having a spouse around the house full time can be a significant adjustment. Having a valuable coworker retire will likely increase the workload of those still working and cause those left behind to pick up the slack. (more)

According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, nearly 82% of baby boomers (ages 55-64) are carrying significant debt loads. What does this mean for your retirement? Quite simply, the dollars going toward debt are not going toward your retirement security. Why are we carrying debt into retirement? (more)