Retirement Realities Sinking In
American workers are becoming more realistic about their prospects for retirement. The latest annual Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found that nearly 25 percent of all of today’s workers expect to retire at age 70 or older, the highest number expecting such a late retirement since the EBRI started its […]
The Easiest Step Toward Becoming Debt-Free
The personal finance press is filled with articles on getting out of debt. Here’s the latest example. The article has some helpful advice. However, like most I’ve read on the topic, it misses the single easiest step toward ditching the debt, which is to fix your payments. Here’s what I mean. Let’s say you have […]
The Good That Credit Cards Can Do
Some say that no one should have a credit card. They argue that charging purchases puts people on the path to financial ruin. To be sure, there are people who would be better off without credit cards. However, just because some people get into car accidents doesn’t mean no one should own a car. Used […]
Kids’ Media Use Growing Fast
Today’s’ young people ages 8 to 18 spend over 7 and a half hours a day using entertainment media such as televisions, computers, cell phones, and MP3 players. As reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation, daily media usage among young people has grown by over an hour in the past five years. Broken down into […]
Recession Lessons: Diversification Still Works
The Great Recession prompted many pundits to declare much of the conventional investment wisdom null and void. But not so fast. An analysis by brokerage house T. Rowe Price (see the article starting on page 15) makes a compelling case that a properly diversified portfolio, including stock market exposure, is still the best route to […]
Which Batteries Are Best
If you use a lot of batteries, you know how they can drain your wallet. So it pays to know which ones to buy for which devices. Consumer Reports (CR) recently put AA batteries to the test. For devices that need bursts of power such as digital cameras and frequently used toys, CR recommended taking […]
Saving On Your Cell Phone Bill
Do you have the most cost-effective cell phone plan? There are two ways to find out. As noted by personal finance writer Gregory Karp in the Chicago Tribune recently, Validas will analyze one of your actual cell phone bills and recommend a less expensive plan for a charge of $5, or you can enter some […]
A Mint.com Update
After putting several free online personal financial management (PFM) tools to the test last year, I became a regular user of Mint.com. I found that it provided the best package of features with the greatest ease of use. Recently I had a chance to talk with Mint founder Aaron Patzer to get an update on […]
Spice Up Your Marriage With a… Budget!
Okay, a budget may not exactly add romance to your marriage, but it may help reduce marital money fights. A new national survey I commissioned from the market research firm Synovate found that married people who use a budget experience fewer financial disagreements with their spouse than those who don’t use a budget (see the […]
Keeping Cupid From Overspending
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, and since romance has a way of fogging our financial sensibilities, MSN is out with a helpful story about gift giving. According to researchers at Stanford University, gift recipients tend to appreciate inexpensive gifts as much as expensive gifts. Researchers explain that gift givers usually have a number […]