As the U.S. economyOpens a New Window. strengthens – about a decade into an economic expansion – some Americans are seeing one very important three-digit number climb higher: their credit scoresOpens a New Window.. The average FICO credit score reached 704 last year, according to a report released by the scoring company in September, notching an all-time high. […]
Ten thousand Americans retire every day. And they do it in 10,000 different ways. With such infinite possibility comes boundless anxiety, which is why no financial rite of passage inspires more hope — or dread — than retirement. What does retirement even mean in 2019? To many, it still marks the beginning of the end […]
Retirement ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, if they’re not careful, a lot of folks will crack once they retire. Perhaps no other stage of life triggers such intense feelings of excitement and liberation, on the one hand, but, on the other, fear and anxiety. Retirement for many entails a leap of […]
There is no shortage of personal finance advice. It seems like for every American living paycheck to paycheck, there is a blog post, book, video, or online course that purports to have the secret to freedom from financial worries. There are even whole movements dedicated to personal finance. (The FIRE movement, which stands for “financial independence, […]
Missing more than one paycheck is a one-way ticket to financial hardship for nearly half of the country’s workforce. A new study from NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent social research institution, found that 51% of working adults in the United States would need to access savings to cover necessities if they missed […]
When it comes to putting a ring on it, younger generations are saying yes, but for less. Two-thirds of younger Americans — Generation Z and young millennials — think an engagement ring should cost less than $2,500, according to a new survey from TD Ameritrade. That is about half of the national average. The average […]
Let’s face it: Saving money isn’t the easiest thing to do. It’s also something many Americans struggle with, as evidenced by the fact that 40% don’t have cash in savings to cover a mere $400 emergency. If you’ve been having a hard time socking money away, you shouldn’t let your past failures drive you to give […]
Money can be complex and intimidating, no matter how much or how little you have. If you’ve considered seeking professional financial help but don’t know where to start, first identify exactly what it is you want to accomplish. Do you want to start investing or invest more money? Do you want to know how much […]
Missing more than one paycheck is a one-way ticket to financial hardship for nearly half of the country’s workforce. A new study from NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent social research institution, found that 51% of working adults in the United States would need to access savings to cover necessities if they missed […]
Today’s retirees should be miserable. According to Transamerica’s A Precarious Existence: How Today’s Retirees Are Financially Faring in Retirement (this link opens a PDF version of the report), retirees generally retired earlier than they planned. And the majority of those early retirements were due to poor health (28%), job loss (24%), family responsibilities (15%), and […]
When it comes to money, there’s a lot of advice out there that’s repeated over and over. While some of this advice is great, there are also situations where the conventional wisdom is wrong. Unfortunately, if you rely on myths to make important choices about your money, you could end up in a very bad […]
Employees are saving more than ever, with average 401(k) contributions in the first quarter of 2019 coming in at $2,370, according to new research from Fidelity Investments — a 15% increase over last year. While that’s good news, the bad news is that those savings still may not be enough to retire comfortably. Researchers also […]
