You want to throw a holiday party but simply cannot afford to spend big bucks in the process. The holidays are full of expenses already without dropping hundreds or even thousands of dollars on festivities. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to cut down on holiday party costs and still create a great atmosphere. Consider
Investing & Retiring
Black Friday arrives on Friday, November 23. Do you plan to join the frenzied early sales with hundreds of your fellow consumers, scour the Internet for online bargains as soon as you’ve digested your Thanksgiving turkey, or wait until the first shopping wave dies down and take your chances a little later in the day?
You’re never too old to learn new things – including better money management practices. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) agrees.
To address financial literacy concerns, the FDIC created the Money Smart teaching program in 2001 to help educators and financial institutions increase consumer understanding of basic financial systems work and how to use them
Most consumers know that credit cards can come with fees other than interest charges applied to balances. Annual fees, late payment fees, balance transfer fees, cash advance fees, foreign transaction fees … the list goes on.
Did you know that debit cards could have fees as well? If not, don’t feel bad. In a recent
Finding a job can be a stressful and difficult task – and if you have poor credit, you may have an even harder time finding a job. A 2016 CareerBuilder study found that almost one-third of employers run credit checks on their potential hires, on the assumption that people with good credit are more likely
By Eric Olsen, Executive Director, HELPS
Nonprofit Law Firm
I just got off the phone with a senior couple who have a timeshare they can’t afford and don’t use any longer. They had called a company who advertised that they help people get out of timeshares. (I hear such advertisements on the radio and television
It may be annoying to see Christmas displays in stores before Halloween, but that does not mean that early shopping for Christmas presents is a bad idea. On the contrary — there are several advantages to doing your holiday shopping before the holiday “sales” start popping up. You can save money without having to fight
To some of us, Halloween is an enjoyable time to dress up our children and/or ourselves, carve scary pumpkins, decorate our home with spooky effects, gorge on treats, and spend the next morning jogging off a candy binge. To others, it is a time to figure out how much candy they need to have on
Do you use your credit card for most purchases? Are there times you prefer paying with your debit card? Perhaps you still use those funny green paper rectangles with numbers on them?
Cash hasn’t been forgotten, especially for smaller payments. A new study by CreditCards.com shows that 45% of consumers who have rewards credit cards
Are smart appliances and systems making you feel like you are being outwitted by your home? They shouldn’t. In many cases, it is just a matter of investing the time to read through the manual and understand the capabilities of the system.
For standard appliances like refrigerators, ovens, or TVs, if you do not educate
When you graduated, you probably entered the workplace with plenty of optimism.You were ready to take the workplace by storm and earn a comfortable living – maybe even outpacing the rest of your classmates. How is that plan working out?
Find out by comparing your current salary with new data from the Bureau of Labor
By Stephanie Braun, Director of Auto Product Management at Esurance
Companies have collected data on their customers for decades. It allows them to offer more tailored services and products, and provide more relevant messaging. The reason data collection has gotten so much press lately is because it’s reached unprecedented levels. Already, we create 2.5 quintillion
There’s a lot of financial advice out there, from the Wall Street Journal to podcasts to your brother-in-law’s stock tips to “A penny saved is a penny earned.” The infographic above, developed in collaboration with the Common Cents Lab at Duke University, shows six simple steps to get your finances on sound footing.
You may be mentally and physically ready to retire, but are you financially ready to retire? Don’t just automatically assume that your current nest egg is sufficient because you’ve reached a certain age. Assess your financial readiness, starting with these five questions.
1. What Are Your Retirement Goals? – Typical advice suggests aiming for 80%
Did the money gremlins sneak into your bank account and drain it again? Surely, the problem cannot be that you spent too much! There must be some other reason….
Perhaps it is time to get a handle on your spending. If you do not track your spending, you cannot distinguish between gremlins and your own
Bankruptcy is a painful process at any point in life, but it’s especially excruciating when you are at or near retirement age. There’s no time to recover and build retirement income.
Unfortunately, seniors are declaring bankruptcy at an increasing rate. A recent study from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project found that the rate of Americans at
How much discretionary income do you have left after you’ve paid the monthly bills? Would that change if you were a homeowner instead of a renter, or vice versa?
PropertyShark and RENTCafé considered this question with a study of 52 urban areas. Using data from the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor, discretionary
You must maximize your retirement funds to increase your chances of enjoying a comfortable retirement, so it’s important to avoid unnecessary fees that take a bite out of your nest egg without providing value in return. Consider these five retirement expenses that are generally avoidable if you pay attention and properly plan your finances.
1.
For millennials who are just stepping into their workaday world, planning for retirement is definitely not something they seem to have on their mind. However, as Social Security benefits are sure to scale back over the next two decades, retirement planning has become a must for every millennial who wants to maintain the same standard
Have you ever lied for financial gain? The odds are strong that you’ve done it at least once. According to a new study from finder.com, almost 4 out of 5 Americans have admitted to lying for some type of financial gain – and many don’t feel guilty about their lies.
Over 2,000 U.S. adults
One day you appear to be on track for retirement, and the next day the stock market crashes. You were on track for a comfortable retirement at age 67 – or before, with a little luck. Now you may have to work into your 70s before you can afford to retire.
Don’t let
Are you planning to retire within the next 10 to 15 years?If so, are you ready to take retirement preparedness to the next level?
Retirement is no longer an abstract concept when you reach your 50s. It’s important to take a closer look at your financial plans now, while you have time to make any
How would you like to retire early? Millennials certainly like the idea, according to a recent survey from Bankrate.com. Millennials identified the perfect retirement age as 61 – a full six years before their full retirement age (FRA) as defined by Social Security and one year before they can even claim reduced Social Security
Are you familiar with the 4% rule and how it relates to retirement? Let’s find out. Choose one of the options below.
The 4% rule refers to…
a) The average amount of your retirement time you’ll spend looking for something you misplaced.
b) The average annual amount of time you’ll spend getting medical care.
c)
By Sandra Parsons
While Cardi B is topping the charts, “Card Cracking” is ruining some music fans’ lives. Rapper Young Ash and five others were recently indicted for running a card cracking ring that recruited accomplices through her Snapchat channel. Learn how card cracking works and how you can avoid falling victim to
Congratulations! You’re the proud parent of a newborn bundle of joy. Many things are swirling through your head right now, especially if this is your first child.
Acquiring a Social Security Number (SSN) for your child is probably not near the top of your priority list, and it probably shouldn’t be – but don’t let
If you are one of the fortunate few who have a defined benefit retirement plan, you have more predictability in your retirement income than most. You can calculate your combined pension benefits and any Social Security benefits that you have earned and have a clear idea of your annual income throughout retirement – assuming you
You’re in a cash-flow crunch again. An important bill is due, and you’ve earned the money to pay that bill – but it’s not payday yet. You’re on a two-week pay cycle and have to wait for another week or so before your money is available.
What are your options? Ask a friend or relative
Did you realize that not all financial advisors are obligated to act in your best interest? Financial professionals are obligated to offer products and advice that are suitable for your needs, but not all of them are obligated to offer the best advice possible.
Two standards govern financial advisors – the fiduciary standard and the
How much longer would you have to work beyond your full retirement age to equal an additional 1% retirement savings over the thirty years prior to your retirement? You might expect to work an extra year or two – but according to a recent study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), you
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