Budgets only work if you stick to them, and smart budgeters leave themselves some wiggle room for discretionary spending, or budget in some “mad money” to use as they see fit. In many cases, however, people make budgets that reflect an optimistic version of themselves. Your budget should reflect you as you are — the […]
Saving money doesn’t have to be complicated. And it doesn’t mean you have to give up your daily Starbucks. CNBC Make It has rounded up five easy savings tricks that can help you pad your bank account in 2019 without feeling like you’re sacrificing. Automate everything If you want to save more money, start by […]
If saving money were easy, we’d all have more-robust bank accounts. Unfortunately, most Americans are glaringly behind on savings, and the reason boils down to — you guessed it — overspending. In fact, 10% of U.S. adults admit to having spent too much over the past year, according to new data from Mass Mutual. If […]
Gerri Detweiler, a credit expert and education director at Nav, a small-business financial management platform, discusses credit scores. QUESTION: FICO recently announced a new credit score called UltraFICO. How is it different from the traditional FICO score? ANSWER: Traditional credit scores rely primarily on information from the credit bureaus. UltraFICO also looks at how you […]
The United States tax code has generally been pretty generous with homeowners, but things changed a little bit with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Now some homeowners may face higher federal tax bills for 2018 than in previous years — and in some cases, that bill will be significantly higher. Why are homeowners at […]
There are plenty of important social programs in this country, but none takes the cake like Social Security. Each month, close to 63 million people receives a Social Security benefit check, many of which are senior citizens. For these aged beneficiaries, more than 3 out of 5 rely on their payout for at least half […]
If you’re getting close to putting full-time work behind you, make sure you give the financial implications of that step more than just a passing once-over. Whether you’re viewing the next phase as retirement, semi-retirement or an unknown adventure, the transition is prone to delivering surprises if you don’t explore how your decisions going forward […]
It is as reliable as your alarm clock. Every time the stock market suffers a swoon, slump or downright rout, financial experts appear in the media to reassure investors that a charging knight is about to ride to their rescue. That knight? Billions or even trillions of dollars that are being held “on the sidelines” […]
Americans are generally upbeat about their progress toward saving for retirement, as well as their prospects for a comfortable retirement. Most are stashing a respectable chunk of their income in savings and getting financial advice. But health costs both before and after retirement are a concern. Those are some of the conclusions from a new […]
Adapt to Tax Law Changes The new tax law changed some traditional financial-planning strategies. Fewer people will be itemizing their income tax deductions now that the standard deduction has almost doubled, which means that they need to use a new strategy to get a tax break for their charitable gifts. See Tax Strategies for Charitable […]
The holidays are a time for celebration— but they also spawn litigation. The new year consistently brings batches of new lawsuits fueled by holiday revelry that goes wrong or snaps long-strained marriages, according to attorneys and experts. “Three things are guaranteed: Death, taxes and me bringing a lawsuit based on drinking on New Year’s Eve,” […]
Financial resolutions may come close to exercise-based ones when people decide what to work on in the new year. That makes sense, because even people who are smart about their money sometimes do dumb things with it. Improving your finances, however, is a lot like getting in shape. You’re better off setting small, manageable goals […]
