Personal Finance

Maybe keeping up with the Joneses is running you into the poorhouse. But will cutting out your luxuries make your friends think you're in dire straits?

By Jane McGrath

If you have debt, if you're saving for retirement, or if you just have general questions about your finances, you might consider a certified financial planner. They're not used only for the rich and famous to keep track of their huge incomes.

By Sarah Siddons

You've prudently pinched pennies to build your nest egg. But with the recent failures of First Republic and Silicon Valley banks, should you worry about losing your money if your bank goes bust?

By Jane McGrath & Kathryn Whitbourne

When you buy a stock future, you're not actually buying shares of stock. Instead, you're making a contract to buy or sell shares on a certain date in the future.

By Dave Roos

Some people hate it, and others love it. Maybe you pay full price just to avoid the hassle of negotiation. Or, perhaps you get your thrills from haggling with the used-car salesman.

By Jane McGrath

If your fantasy is to be a hotshot investor, municipal bonds may give you the chance. These tax-free securities help towns and cities build sports complexes, hospitals, bridges and more.

By Dave Roos

Your phone service is taxed and your cable TV channels carry an added charge, too. So why is your Internet service exempt?

By John Fuller

During a routine car check-up, a service attendant announces to you that it will take $500 to repair your car. Normally, this cost wouldn't be a big deal, but this month you had to pay your income taxes, and you took a hit. How are you going to pay for the repairs?

By John Barrymore

A line of credit can help cover large, unexpected expenses like surgery fees that your medical insurance doesn't cover. With this type of loan, you don't start repayments until you borrow the funds.

By John Barrymore

The year was 1933, and financial ruin was everywhere. Enter the FDIC, created by U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt to ensure that bank customers didn't lose their money if a bank failed. In 2008, a new financial crisis loomed. What did the FDIC do?

By Dave Roos & John Barrymore

With taxes and medical expenses increasing, it isn't hard for U.S. workers to get discouraged. Nothing is more frustrating than working hard all year, just to have the government and the pharmacy take your money. But flex funds may help you save.

By Sarah Siddons

Most college students have to worry about paying for classes, books, food, and rent. They have to work jobs, study to keep their grades up, and show up for classes on time. So the government began offering Pell Grants to students in need.

By Sarah Siddons

When you car breaks down, or you take those morning trips to the latte shop, you incur non-fixed expenses. Reviewing your budget, you'll see that they can fluctuate from one month to the next.

By Sarah Siddons

Trendy clothes. Daily Starbucks coffee. All the newest CDs. In budgeting, these common spending habits are identified as discretionary expenses. Discretionary expenses can be a reward, or they can wreck your budget. So what's your weakness?

By Sarah Siddons

You have a big expense coming up. You need a better car or home, or you want to go back to college. What do you do? Borrow, borrow, borrow -- right? Well, maybe not. Working off of a budget just may save your sanity -- and credit.

By Sarah Siddons

It lurches forward, seemingly unstoppable by the arsenal of data you've collected against it. You battled this foe years ago, but like the undead, it's come for you again and again -- this time in the form of letter from a collection agency. It's name? Zombie debt.

By Sarah Siddons

Dealing with debt collectors is becoming a common experience. But what can you do to avoid debt-collector harassment, short of switching off your phone service or allowing your unread mail to pile up on the kitchen counter?

By John Larrabee

Oil prices are rising; reserves of oil, coal and natural gas are being depleted; and the continued use of nonrenewable fuels poses threats to the environment. The answer may be alternative energy, but who's going to pay for it?

By John Barrymore

Tax-free mutual funds are a good investment option for conservative investors, since they have very little risk. Investors save money on taxes and can also easily convert shares into cash.

By Sarah Siddons

Trust funds aren't just for rich kids, although this concept dates back thousands of years. Limited-term trusts can protect your assets from lawsuits and other threats. It's all up to you.

By Sarah Siddons

You might think that with all the litigation taking place these days lawyers would top the list of best-paying gigs. But that's not the case at all. In fact, the best-paying job has a lot to do with making sure you're relaxed, while the worst-paying job has everything to do with ensuring that you're sated.

By John Barrymore

When you clean out your closet, you may donate items to charity or raise some extra cash with a garage sale. But what do you do when you have to clean out an entire house? An estate sale may be the answer you're looking for.

By Sarah Siddons

What goes up most come down. But how much do war, crime and inflation factor into stock market performance -- and is it all psychological? So how can you ride the bull and tame the bear?

By John Barrymore

Working for yourself is challenging and sometimes daunting, but it's the single best decision that you ever made. And being the boss gives you substantial control when choosing a retirement strategy, which may include a Keogh retirement plan.

By Sarah Siddons

It's a sad but common story: A landowner dies, leaving his heirs in a mound of debt and back taxes. What do they do now? An estate freeze trust can prevent the heirs from falling into this extreme burden.

By Sarah Siddons