When University of Michigan juniors Lauren Schandevel and Griffin St. Onge read a campus affordability guide earlier this year that suggested, among other things, that firing the maid could help save them money, they decided to write their own. Who in college, they asked themselves, has a cleaning service? Their online publication, “Being Not-Rich at […]
With apologies to Isaac Newton, but what goes up hardly ever comes down, except perhaps the fuel price and cryptocurrencies, which have seen more peaks and valleys recently than the points that Jared Leto films score on Rotten Tomatoes. But energy prices are likely to rise soon, value-added tax increased on April 1 – the […]
April 22 ws Earth Day. First observed in 1970, Earth Day has evolved into an international celebration to support clean air, clean water, and other measures to protect our planet. As an investor, what lessons can you learn from this special day? Consider the following: Avoid “toxic” investment moves. Earth Day events show us how […]
Americans aren’t terrific at saving for retirement. Many are even worse when it comes to figuring out how much to spend once they get there. An actuary who’s studied the issue for three decades recently proposed a relatively straightforward strategy that can help. In its simplest form, the “Spend Safely in Retirement “ plan suggests […]
People are living longer, which means having a well stocked nest egg is imperative to living your golden years in happiness. More folks are living well into their 90s, which means having enough cash before you retire is vital to a happy, stress-free retirement. Some moves you can make before you retire include maxing out […]
It is wonderful that modern medicine not only saves many young lives that even 50 years ago would have been lost, but it is extending our life expectancy out into the nineties. Many of us can expect to see not our grandchildren grow, but our great-grandchildren too (unless the continued postponement of birth into the […]
Saving money is essential to a secure future, yet according to a recent Bankrate survey, one in five Americans is saving nothing at all, and 65% of Americans are saving below the minimum recommended rate of 10% of income. Why aren’t more of us saving the money we need? For 40% of Americans, the problem […]
A new survey of 5,000 people by Carphone Warehouse reveals more about the lengths people will go to in order to save money. Some, such as taking your own bags to the supermarket (is there anyone who doesn’t?), are fairly standard but others are more unusual. Here’s a selection of some of the ones that […]
If you’ve read any personal finance advice, you know there’s one simple rule that comes up time and again: You need a budget. A budget is a roadmap for where your money will go so you can make your hard-earned income work for you. Budgets assign your money a job and establish spending limits for […]
Though Americans are slowly but surely ramping up their savings game, most are still falling short in that arena. An estimated 57% of U.S. adults have less than $1,000 available in savings, while 39% have absolutely no savings at all. Clearly, this means most of us need to do better. With that in mind, here […]
A new breed of state-based savings accounts can help workers prepare for retirement, in part by allowing them to push back the time when they file for Social Security payments, a new analysis suggests. Half of all states have considered plans to offer automatic individual retirement accounts, and at least five (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland […]
One of the biggest problems people encounter when it comes to saving money is that they just can’t seem to figure out how to save more money. Very few people are actually saving the maximum amount they can. There is usually wiggle room somewhere in their budget. Many people aren’t properly tracking where their money […]
