WHILE YOU DON’T HAVE much choice when it comes to paying taxes, you can benefit from significant deductions that reduce the amount you owe Uncle Sam. “We’re allowed to take deductions against income,” explains Traci Kratish Pumo, the managing director with the tax and financial advisory firm BDO. Those deductions reduce the amount of income […]
Want to pay less to your credit card company? Make a phone call. While most cardholders have not requested a break on either interest rates or fees recently, the majority of those who did ask were successful, a new survey shows. In the past year — a time when interest rates were rising — 81% […]
The lack of financial understanding by consumers has been signaled as one of the main reasons behind savings and investing problems faced by many Americans. To that point, a variety of financial research and reports have made it clear that we, as a country, need to focus on financial literacy. The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance […]
Relationship advice — “be honest, talk it over, respect each other’s feelings” — often goes right out the window when you’re in an actual relationship. Take money. Who talks about it honestly? Who can have calm discussions when tempers are running high over someone’s spending habits? “We don’t talk about money with anyone, even our […]
MANY PEOPLE SAVE AND invest in a 401(k) plan with the hope that they can accumulate enough to eventually pay for retirement. In addition to your savings rate and employer contributions, your 401(k) investment returns have a big impact on your final account balance. The average 401(k) return can vary, depending on: How consistently you save. The number of […]
The growing movement among some millennials and members of Generation X to aim for an extremely early retirement in their 40s, 30s, even 20s, which goes by the acronym “FIRE” (financial independence, retire early), is getting a lot of attention right now. To some, early retirees are an inspiration, showing what’s possible when you opt […]
Whether you want to put money aside for emergencies, college or retirement – saving is one of the most basic pieces of financial advice. Despite the importance of saving, some of us are falling short. Bankrate.com surveyed more than a thousand working Americans and found that 21 percent are not saving any money for retirement, emergencies or other […]
Single, financially savvy, unattached and with plenty of money to spare. It sounds like an enviable position, but according to a recent Reddit thread, it can actually pose some challenges in the dating world. A writer on Reddit by the name of “minimalistmillennial,” who described herself as a 24-year-old woman with a $50,000 net worth, […]
If you’re a Florida resident looking for cheap car insurance, the odds might already be against you. According to personal finance website WalletHub, Florida came in as the second-most expensive state for car insurance, out of 47 states ranked. The website compiled the ranking by collecting quotes from major auto insurers in at least six […]
On Sept. 28, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law a bill allowing people with cancer to put their student loan payments on hold. The rollout of the new program has been rocky. The Education Department, in a notice in the Federal Register, writes: “The law was immediately effective, meaning that borrowers can immediately request […]
College is overrated. Well, at least sometimes. New data from millions of users and job listings from career networking site LinkedIn shows that many top companies including Google GOOG, -0.27% AAPL, +1.57% Airbnb, Facebook FB, -0.45% Oracle ORCL, -0.39% and others all have high-paying, in-demand jobs where a four-year degree isn’t required. “The four-year degree […]
Maybe the skies are getting a little friendlier. Last year, major airlines in America received the best score ever in the 29-year history of an annual study that tracks consumer complaints, on-time performance and mishaps like mishandled baggage and passengers getting bumped off oversold flights. The Airline Quality Rating awarded its best overall score ever […]
