Investing Basics
It’s never too soon to start thinking about investing. Investing means putting your money to work earning more money. Done wisely, it can help you meet your financial goals. They might be buying a home, paying for a college education, enjoying a comfortable retirement, or whatever is important to you.
You don’t have to be wealthy to be an investor. Investing even a small amount has the potential to produce considerable rewards over the long term, especially if you do it regularly.
But investing means you have to make decisions about how much you want to invest and where to invest it. That means you need to know what choices you have and what risks you take when you invest in different ways.
INVESTMENT BASICS
There are three basic investment categories: stocks, bonds, and cash. You can invest directly in any or all of them, or indirectly by buying mutual funds that pool your money with money from other people and then invest it. Stock mutual funds, for example, buy stocks, while money market funds make cash investments designed to maintain the value of each share at $1.
WAYS TO INVEST
Just as there are different types of investments, there are different types of investment accounts.
You can put as much money as you wish in a taxable account each year and choose from a full menu of investments. You pay tax on any earnings your investments produce and on any gain in value you realize for selling an investment for more than you paid to buy it. Qualifying dividends and long-term capital gains are taxed at a lower rate than your regular income.
You may also have one or more tax-deferred retirement accounts. You can postpone taxes on investment earnings in a tax-deferred account until you withdraw them. In some accounts you can also defer taxes on the amounts you invest. When you do withdraw, the tax that’s due is figured at the same rate as you pay on other income. There are some limitations: The annual investment is often capped, and in some plans the investment menu may be limited. You may also owe a penalty if you withdraw early, which is usually before 59½.
Tax-exempt accounts are designed to help you pay for specific goals, such as retirement or education. If you follow the rules of the specific account you’re using, no federal tax is due on any earnings in the account, either as they accumulate or when you withdraw. You do pay tax on the amounts you invest, and there may be limits on the amounts you can invest each year.
How to Save More Money on your 401(k)
Get more money in your 401(k)
Personalized Financial Booklets
Financial professionals can order and personalize Lightbulb booklets through a special service called Lightbulb On Demand. We offer a broad range of topics, from investing basics and strategies, such as diversification and asset allocation, to direct investments and retirement planning and income. Used for Direct mailings, Handouts at seminars and conferences, Client meetings, New business campaigns, and Re-opening doors with existing clients.
Marketing Uses
Financial services firms, as well as financial advisers, planners, and other professionals have been using Lightbulb guides and booklets for the past two decades to educate their employees and customers, market their services, and support financial literacy and other advocacy programs.
Financial Websites
Whether you are interested in creating an entirely new website, revitalizing an existing site, or enhancing your current site with greater interactivity or more timely information, Lightbulb's full-service website creation services allow us to provide the content, design, and Web development functions ideally suited to your initiative.
Our work includes comprehensive investor education websites, online learning centers, and micro-sites on specific financial products. Each of the websites we develop or enhance is exclusively customized for a particular company and business philosophy, a specific client group or market segment, or a special product or service.
Financial Micro-Sites
Micro-sites are an effective way to announce, promote, or explain a new product or service, complement a marketing or educational campaign, or create additional Web "shelf-space" for your existing offerings.
How to Save More Money on your 401(k)
Consisting of up to 20 pages, a micro-site is an effective communication tool precisely because it is focused on a very specific topic. Visitors to the site can get the information they need quickly, without getting sidetracked or overwhelmed by other content. Lightbulb will create the micro-site framework and design, develop the content, and produce and launch the micro-site. We can also arrange to host the site and maintain it on a periodic basis.
Financial Services Marketing
Lightbulb combines subject matter expertise in personal finance and investing with extensive experience in developing marketing and branding strategies for financial institutions and advisers.
Our financial marketing services encompass full-scale programs that integrate print, Web, and digital media for mobile devices as well as individual, "one-off" pieces created for a specific occasion or event.
How to Save More Money on your 401(k)
Get more money in your 401(k)
How to Save More Money on your 401(k)
Get more money in your 401(k)
How to Save More Money on your 401(k)
Get more money in your 401(k)
How to Save More Money on your 401(k)
Get more money in your 401(k)
How to Save More Money on your 401(k)
Get more money in your 401(k)
How to Save More Money on your 401(k)
Get more money in your 401(k)
To help new veterans just leaving active service smooth the transition to civilian life, a new resource guide, the 
