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Tiffany Lam-Balfour

Tiffany is an investing writer at NerdWallet. Previously she was a senior financial advisor and sales manager at Merrill Lynch, and she spent nearly a decade in investment banking and investment management prior to advising. Tiffany has a finance and management degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and believes in making sound financial advice and guidance accessible to all.

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Posts by Tiffany Lam-Balfour:

How Women Investors Can Rewrite Their Financial Futures

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
April 8, 2021

Women do it all — lead households, pay bills, run companies. But when it comes to saving and investing, advisors say there’s more women could do to ensure they’re better…

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Is Market Timing Everything, or Does Patience Pay Off?

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
April 8, 2021

One timeworn piece of investing advice is to “buy low, sell high.” Sounds easy, but as a strategy, timing the market — anticipating when the market as a whole or…

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Why Financial Advisors of Color Matter

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
Feb. 10, 2021

During my seven years as a financial advisor, I often had two-hour phone calls with clients. Armed with my cheat sheet of English-to-Mandarin financial terms and Google Translate, I would…

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How to Right Your Retirement Savings After Coronavirus Setbacks

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
Jan. 25, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown upended our lives on multiple fronts. While enduring widespread unemployment and the economic downturn, many Americans leaned on their retirement accounts to help make ends…

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Expecting Higher Taxes Post-Election? Consider This Investing Workaround

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
Dec. 17, 2020

While campaigning, President-elect Joe Biden highlighted his plans to make some revisions to the current tax code. Now that the election has been decided, some people might be wondering how…

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U.S. Treasury Bonds, Bills and Notes: What They Are and How to Buy

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
March 17, 2021

The United States and its economy have a broad reach. The U.S. has the largest and most active stock exchanges worldwide, U.S. dollars are frequently used in foreign exchange transactions,…

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Best Tips for Saving for Retirement — at Any Age

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
Dec. 14, 2020

The best gift you can give yourself this year? A more secure financial future. No matter what stage of life you’re in, it’s never too late — or too early…

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Municipal Bonds: How to Invest Tax-Free in a Community

Municipal Bonds: How to Invest Tax-Free in a Community

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
March 17, 2021

As you drive down a smooth highway or past that new, state-of-the-art stadium, you might wonder how your city paid for it. It’s very likely a municipal bond made it…

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How to Invest in the S&P 500

How to Invest in the S&P 500

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
March 15, 2021

For those would-be investors wanting to jump into the stock market but wondering which stock to buy, legendary investor Warren Buffett has a suggestion: Try buying 500 stocks instead. “In my…

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Retirement Investments: A Beginner's Guide

Retirement Investments: A Beginner’s Guide

Tiffany Lam-Balfour
March 17, 2021

Advancements in medicine and technology are helping us live longer than ever before. But the prospect of living in retirement for up to 40 years — often the same time…

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