Most American adults own life insurance, yet the buying process can be perplexing and pose traps for the unwary — and cause financial problems years down the road. Around 57% of adults in the U.S. own a life insurance policy, according to a joint study by Limra, a trade group, and Life Happens, a nonprofit

Tera Images If you play your cards right, small everyday purchases put on plastic can add up to big savings over time. That’s thanks to increasingly generous credit card cash-back rewards programs — provided you pay your bills promptly — according to one credit-card comparison website. In addition, the right card for you likely depends

Tip 1: Put your savings on autopilot When it comes to saving, the first step is to make it a habit. Many financial advisors recommend beginning with an emergency fund, which is the key to keep from reaching for a credit card when something unexpected pops up, such as a broken appliance or a medical

Getty Images Earlier this month, scores of high school seniors submitted their applications to college. Now comes the worst part: waiting. In the wake of a college admissions scandal and as the super-low admission rate at many top colleges receives widespread attention, the business of getting in to college is more intense than ever. However,

Jacobs Stock Photography Worried about your debt? Consider this: The U.S. is $23 trillion in the red. Today, the country owes over four times more than it did in 2000, when the national debt stood at around $5 trillion. How did we get here? “Like any budget that you have in your household, we have

Conversations with kids can be adversarial at the best of times. Combine teens, money and something they want, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a situation. If your family hasn’t been in the habit of holding regular financial chats, the risk is even higher for the talk to turn negative, says Thomas Henske, a

Senior couple going through their financial bills while paying them online on a terrace. Focus is on woman. skynesher Retirement income is often thought to come from three sources: Social Security, pensions and savings. That combination is often called a three-legged stool, a metaphor for the money retirees use to support themselves once they are

Tom Steyer speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University on January 14, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Six candidates out of the field qualified for the first Democratic presidential primary debate of 2020, hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register. Scott Olson | Getty Images Billionaire Tom Steyer is calling for

Ariel Skelley Personal finance website WalletHub is out with another list of the best states in which to spend your retirement. Factoring in affordability, quality of life and health care, Florida came in first. Yet a recent ranking by Business Insider dubbed Mississippi the winner. Nebraska took the title in another list last year compiled

Guido Mieth Americans are spending more with digital payments and credit cards than ever before, as convenience and technology have relegated cash and checks more to the periphery. Online shopping has proliferated on retail websites such as Amazon, mobile payment apps like Venmo have become more popular, and banks have made it as easy to

People line up outside the Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images If you collect Social Security benefits, you’re probably already eagerly waiting to see what your cost-of-living adjustment will be next year. New, early estimates from The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior group, point to a possible 1.5% COLA increase for

Rene Carillo, 51, regrets not investing more when the stock market dropped. Rene Carillo We all have financial regrets. Things we bought, bills we paid late, decisions we didn’t research. Turns out, according to personal finance site MagnifyMoney, investing brings a host of bad feelings. The top one is not investing at all, according to

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks to guests during a campaign stop at Fisher Elementary School on January 12, 2020 in Marshalltown, Iowa. Scott Olson | Getty Images Presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on Tuesday that she would begin to forgive student loan debt on the first day of her administration, using

It’s becoming a common scenario: You’re creeping closer to your 65th birthday, which means you’ll be eligible for Medicare, yet you already have health insurance through work. Sound familiar? If so, you might have options. While workers at businesses with fewer than 20 employees generally must sign up for Medicare at age 65, people working

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) gestures as democratic presidential candidates (L-R) South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Tom Steyer await the start of the Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University on December 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama

Sam Edwards | Getty Images Retirement is often called the golden years. Many elderly Americans probably wouldn’t describe it that way. Recent research from the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging at the University of Massachusetts Boston found that many older Americans don’t have enough money to get by. The report estimates that

Most people kick off the new year with a resolution to spend less and save more. Easier said than done. Despite steady income growth over the last decade, household spending has risen more, recent research shows. A CNBC survey found 21% of Americans say they’d increased their spending in the last year. The majority gave

Tony Elion, Jr. taught himself how to invest by utilizing free resources Tony Elion, Jr. When law student Tony Elion, Jr. decided he wanted to take on investing, he knew he could learn how to do it without spending a ton of money. In fact, a lot of what he came across he found for

kate_sept2004 The legal and financial fortunes of gay and lesbian Americans have changed beyond recognition. That’s largely thanks to the legalization and rapid public acceptance of same-sex marriage and antidiscrimination protections, as well as other civil rights shifts, for LGBTQ people across the U.S. in recent years. Whereas same-sex couples, unable to marry, once had

Retirement is not what it used to be. Whether by choice of necessity, many Americans anticipate extending their working years, according to recent research from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. A majority of workers said they expect to stop working sometime after age 65 or never retire at all, the research found. A separate

Halley Bondy and daughter Robin, 2 Halley Bondy Halley Bondy loves being a freelance writer. And the 35-year-old journalist, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, earns more working for herself than she did as a full-time employee. Now, a proposal in New York state that could require companies to classify more of their freelancers as

SuperStock | Getty Images Finding someone to turn to for financial advice should be as easy as finding a doctor. But it turns out the credentials which financial professionals use to represent themselves are often not clear. And getting the wrong guidance can be costly. Misguided advice costs investors about $17 billion in wealth annually,

Florida, Fort Myers, Publix, supermarket Gift Card Display. Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images Did you receive a gift card from someone over the holidays? Well, it’s time to go shopping. That sounds like the right move. Many people, however, let the dollars on their plastic go to waste: Each year, up

The tween and early teen years can be a tricky time for kids. Not only are they encountering new social situations and gaining more responsibility, they are also forming a big part of their relationship with money. “Kids this age are old enough to really understand how money works,” said Chantel Bonneau, a wealth management

Retirees can boost their Social Security payments substantially by avoiding one costly, yet common, mistake. Americans can claim Social Security benefits as early as age 62. While it may be tempting to begin receiving that monthly income as soon as possible, retirees could leave a lot of money on the table by doing so. That’s

Michelle and Donald McCulloch bought a house using their ABLE savings. Michelle and Donald McCulloch Most people take being able to save money for granted. But for people with a disability, whether developmental or physical, a previous $2,000 limit meant not being able to plan and save for a house, a car or a vacation.

Peter Cade | Getty Images It’s the challenge many retirees face: How to turn lifetime savings into a steady income stream and not run out of money. To solve that dilemma, some financial experts suggest annuities, financial products that provide regular payments in return for one upfront lump sum. But the problem is that many

Older Americans heading toward retirement can face a conundrum: They’ll need income when they leave work, yet they want to delay taking Social Security for as long as possible so they can maximize those benefits. For clients who have other assets available, some advisors recommend that instead of gradually withdrawing from those accounts — i.e.,

Whether you have a side hustle or you’re running your own business, you’re a week away from a major tax deadline. Individuals who pay their estimated taxes every quarter — including independent contractors and members of partnerships — are expected to make their fourth and final payment for 2019 on Jan. 15. The quarterly deadlines

Natasha Alipour Faridani | DigitalVision | Getty Images A new federal regulation aimed at providing increased investor protection isn’t slated to go into effect until later this year. But a fight is already brewing in one state — Massachusetts — over the potential enforcement of a stronger rule. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s new rule,