If you’re like many Americans – 71 percent, according to an AARP survey – you might be under the impression that your 401(k) plan administrator doesn’t charge you anything to maintain your account. You’d be wrong. In fact, these companies typically c... Read More
Like many other economic measures, charitable donations in the U.S. have yet to bounce back to pre-recession levels. According to Giving USA’s Annual Report on Philanthropy, charitable contributions totaled $298.4 billion in 2011 – up 4 percent from 2010, but still 11... Read More
Not every interaction with the IRS must necessarily induce flop sweat. Case in point: A few years ago, a friend of mine decided his income taxes had become sufficiently complicated to merit hiring an accountant. After examining previous tax returns, the accountant discovered my f... Read More
By most estimates, over half of adult Americans have not written a will stating how their assets should be distributed after death. Fewer still have bothered to appoint someone to make financial and health care decisions on their behalf should they become incapacitated. And now w... Read More
Would you be surprised to learn that parents in many poorer countries often spend considerably more time talking with their children about money management than in wealthier countries like the United States? I was. That’s just one interesting nugget revealed at the sixth an... Read More
Disastrous wedding mishaps have long been a comedy staple, probably because so many of us can relate. What bride- or groom-to-be hasn’t had nightmares about hurricane-force winds blowing over the reception tent or a drunken cousin falling into the wedding cake? Besides the ... Read More
Now that tax day has passed, chances are you’re either waiting patiently for your 2011 tax refund to arrive, it’s already been spent, or you just wrote the U.S. Treasury a check and are in budget-cutting mode. It’s difficult to calculate exactly how much youR... Read More
Sometimes it’s hard enough just keeping track of your own finances. But as many of us have learned, life gets even more complicated when your parents come to you for assistance with their money matters – or worse, when they don’t ask for help but really should. ... Read More