Personal finance

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Ed Gjertsen II, a financial advisor in Northfield, Illinois, knew something was fishy when an elderly and infirm client started cashing checks at a local bar. It was out of character for the investor, a single man in his 70s. “These were small checks: $500 here, $1,000 there,” said

Can you spare $5 a day? If so, you could become a millionaire — one day. “If you start in your 20s with a couple of reasonable investments, you can’t avoid becoming a millionaire,” said Michael Taylor, author of “The Financial Rules for New College Graduates.” However, many young people are delaying or refusing to

If the ups and downs of the stock market have you wondering what to do, you’re not alone. Stocks tanked in August, neared record highs in September and Goldman Sachs is predicting a wild ride in October. On top of that, a recent UBS survey found that 55% of the ultra-rich see a recession by

michaeljung | iStock | Getty Images Employers and workers will shell out more cash for health insurance in 2020. Large companies predict the total cost of workplace health-care coverage to reach an average of $15,375 next year, according the National Business Group on Health. That’s up from $14,642 in 2019. This figure combines workers’ and

skaman306 | Moment | Getty Images The advice: Don’t get emotional about your money. The reality: Money touches almost every part of your life. Unless you live off the grid, it’s a hard fact that money buys your food, shelter and transportation, not to mention current recreation and distant projects. The possibility of losing it

Jamie Grill | Getty Images Slow down as you pick out your employee benefits for next year. Your household finances could depend on it. Open enrollment season — a period in which employees update their insurance coverage and other perks for the upcoming year — is just around the corner. It’s tempting to merely choose

2020 Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign event in West Branch, Iowa, August 19, 2019. Al Drago | Reuters There could be a new factor to your credit score: the president of the United States. Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders wants to eliminate the private credit reporting companies and

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former Vice President Joe Biden, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) interact on stage during the Democratic Presidential Debate at Texas Southern University’s Health and PE Center on September 12, 2019 in Houston, Texas. Win McNamee | Getty Images When it comes to changes to Social Security, Sen. Elizabeth

Phil Ashley | Stone | Getty Images Chances are, your savings are getting eaten up by inflation. That is because the average interest rate on a traditional savings account is 0.1% annual percentage yield. Meanwhile, the U.S. inflation rate is currently 1.7%. To help combat that problem, more companies are providing high-interest accounts to help

Saving for retirement in your 20s? For many, that’s a back-burner priority. Anyone who’s already making paycheck contributions to a 401(k) plan might also think they’re doing more than enough. And given your starter salary, student debt loans and credit card debt, contributing to an individual retirement account might seem like an impossible stretch —

If you’re on Medicare, you’re probably already familiar with Part D, the prescription drug benefit plan. But you may not know exactly how the optional program — which has been available to seniors since 2006 — has affected drug prices. Stigur Karlsson | E+ | Getty Images Today, a majority of individuals who are covered

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images Yes, you can max out your 401(k) plan at work, go on vacation and enjoy your Netflix, too. Close to half of the so-called “super-savers” polled by Principal Financial Group said they not only saved aggressively their retirement plan at work, but they also still maintained

Oliver Furrer | Cultura | Getty Images You don’t have to be a hedge fund guru to discuss alternative investments with your clients, yet it doesn’t hurt to get educated. It’s no secret that portfolio diversification protects investors from the whims of the stock market, blunting the volatility you get in equities by including an

Bronsyn Foster‘s 8-year-old son wondered why his mother was still in school. “He said, ‘Why couldn’t you just finish school before you had me?'” said Foster, now 48. “It’s hard for a little kid to understand why you can’t be around more often.” Yet he was one of the main reasons she was, at nearly

Plenty of parents start their kids off with a piggy bank to underscore the importance of savings. Very few teach their children how to invest. “Investing is something a lot of parents struggle with,” said Roger Young, a senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price in Owings Mills, Maryland. Parents who don’t have best habits

gilaxia | iStock | 360 | Getty Images Chances are that you’re overlooking a major retiree health care expense — and it’ll take a bite out of your pocket book. It’s the cost of dental care. In all, 27 million people — nearly 2 out of 3 Medicare beneficiaries — have no dental coverage, according

Marcy Maloy | Photodisc | Getty Images If you’re looking for security in retirement, America might not be the first place you want to look. The U.S. didn’t crack the top 10 in a new ranking by Natixis Investment Managers. The annual report scores 44 countries based on how well they address retiree needs when

Democratic presidential hopefuls in partnership with Univision at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas on September 12, 2019. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images Student loan borrowers have reason to pay close attention to the 2020 presidential campaign. Many of the Democratic presidential candidates have detailed plans to address what increasingly is called

Amy Blacklock, 51, is on track for financial independence well before age 60, though she started far later than the standard recommendation. Blacklock and her husband, who live in metro Detroit, assumed they would need to work until their mid-60s. Then, they discovered the FIRE movement (financial independence/retire early), which transformed their view of their

When it comes to healthy financial habits, tapping your income ahead of payday is an old-school red flag. However, a growing number of companies, including Walmart, are giving advances by offering what’s now called “accelerated pay.” As a perk, roughly 12% of companies include accelerated pay as another way of luring job candidates as wages