Personal Finance
You and your partner may have built a comfortable nest egg and expect that Social Security will help support the retirement lifestyle you both want. On paper, your assumptions could make sense, but that will depend on three numbers that retirees often overlook: Your required withdrawal rate, the tax bill…
Your home insurance bill keeps climbing. Your grocery total stings. And every few weeks, another town gets flattened by a storm, fire, or flood the news calls “unprecedented.” Here’s the question nobody wants to answer out loud: How much is climate change actually costing you? For years, the honest answer…
With new cars costing nearly $50,000 on average, you may be looking for ways to keep your existing ride running without breaking the bank on service or repairs. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the average age of a car on U.S. roads is almost 13 years old.…
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…
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.…
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.…
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…
Does your paycheck feel like it disappears as soon as it hits your account? Or do you have financial goals — whether that’s paying off debt or saving for an emergency fund — but no clear plan of action? If that sounds like you, zero-based budgeting could help. This method…
Student loan defaults are up to a record high, with 9.5 million borrowers in default, meaning they are more than 270 days behind on loan payments, according to data from the Office of Federal Student Aid. The near-10 million borrowers in default represent a record-high and nearly double the number…
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…
