Labor Day is a bittersweet holiday, isn’t it? The end of the summer, squeezing in the last bits of fun and adventure, all the while looking forward to the return to normal structure September brings. I love the leisurely pace of summer but by the end of August I can’t wait to get back into […]
You can never be too rich or too thin. While I don’t think Wallis Simpson is quite right about that, it does speak to two of the most popular resolutions made each new year: To lose weight and save money. Neither is complicated — to lose weight you need a calorie deficit; to save money, […]
You likely have heard the news about the Equifax security breach, but in case you haven’t, hackers gained access to the personal credit information one half to possibly 2/3 of the American adult population. The stolen information is sufficient to steal your identity and open credit in your name. With a breach this big, you […]
It seems almost inevitable these days that your credit card information will be at risk from a retailer’s system breach or worse, your card number stolen and used for fraudulent purchases. Clearly the established credit payment systems are lacking. Next generation payment methods like mobile pay and chipped credit cards promise improvement; whether they will […]
Admittedly, I’m not much of a coupon clipper. At least not paper coupons. I lose them, forget to use them, find them to be annoying to keep track of in general. But electronic coupons and money saving apps? I’m in. Beyond the usual Googling for promo codes before pressing “place order,” I’ve found there are […]
It wouldn’t be Christmas without lights on Main Street, cookies for Santa, packages from Amazon. And what’s Christmas without year-end tax legislation? Never to disappoint, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the Tax Increase Prevention Act (TIPA) on December 19. For the most part TIPA is nothing new, and in fact the “extenders” […]
Folks have been lamenting the commercialization of the holiday season for years, but the outcry this year about shopping on Thanksgiving indicates a rebellion of sorts. Christmas decorations pop up in stores in September; relentless television advertising pushes consumers to empty wallets for a “perfect” holiday; the irony of rushing around buying gifts right up […]
The theory of risk reward says that in order to obtain more reward, one must take on more risk. In a recent post, I wrote about the little reward available these days in accounts that by design must be safe. For money that can and should take on risk in pursuit of a better return, […]
Last summer, around Father’s Day and my dad’s 70th birthday, I wrote about the legacy my dad has built (and is building) in our family. Well, my mom is co-constructor in that legacy building, so in honor of Mother’s Day, this time around I’d like to share my birthday tribute to my mom. How […]
The past few years have been downright pitiful when it comes to earning interest on bank accounts. With the average savings account paying close to zero, and some even charging fees, which puts your return in the negative, it can be discouraging to see your savings sit idle. But what options are there? With some […]
