Personal Finance
If you’re scrambling to compile tax documents as the filing deadline approaches, you’re not alone. A tax extension can offer welcome breathing room, but it also comes with rules and potential pitfalls that many taxpayers misunderstand. Knowing how long an extension lasts, what it does and doesn’t cover and what…
It’s a claim you’ve likely heard echoing through the news cycle: Blue states are drowning in high energy bills while red states enjoy cheap, reliable power. It makes for a great sound bite, but if you’re trying to manage a household budget, you don’t need political theater — you need…
I’m a CPA and personal finance writer with more than 30 years of experience, which includes writing dozens of articles about Social Security. But when it came time to file for my own Social Security last year, I had to pause. I thought I knew the system inside and out.…
iona didishvili / Shutterstock.comMany people choose to be frugal for different reasons. Maybe they were raised to live a frugal life, so it’s second nature to them. Perhaps they are consciously frugal and saving to pay cash for a house, or they have a child about to head off to…
Peter Titmuss / Shutterstock.comThink you need to work long hours to qualify for company-backed retirement plans, tuition reimbursements and affordable health insurance? Actually, you don’t have to be a full-time employee to get those perks. There are many companies that offer generous benefit packages for their hourly part-time employees. These…
If you’ve walked down the snack aisle lately, you’ve probably felt like you needed a small personal loan just to buy a bag of Doritos. We’ve been grumbling about it for years, and it seems the folks in the corporate suites finally heard us. Or, more likely, they saw their…
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A homeowner spends $10,000 on a high-tech, ultra-efficient furnace, only to wonder why their heating bill still looks like a car payment. It’s a classic mistake. You can buy the most expensive heater on the planet, but if your house has the structural…
We recently published an article for the “super-savers“—those rare birds who worry they’re hoarding too much cash for the future. If you read that and thought, “Must be nice to have that problem,” this article is for you. The uncomfortable reality is that most Americans are woefully unprepared for retirement.…
You are likely leaving money on the table every single month. We are conditioned to believe that outside of a car dealership or a real estate closing, the price tag is the final word. That assumption is an expensive mistake. In an economy where inflation has driven up the cost…
You’ve probably seen those glossy brochures for “senior-friendly” home renovations. They usually feature $10,000 walk-in tubs and sleek, custom-built ramps that cost more than a used Honda. It’s enough to make anyone on a fixed income give up and start looking at assisted living brochures. But here’s a secret the…
