Personal finance

About 100,000 ex-employees of General Electric will face a choice soon: stay in the company’s pension plan or accept a lump sum and cut ties instead. Whether you count yourself among those former GE workers or are employed by another company with a similar option on the table, advisors say the decision shouldn’t be made

Emergencies occur. So, it makes sense to start putting money aside. Yet many Americans aren’t. In fact, 28% of Americans have no emergency savings, a July survey from personal financial website Bankrate.com found. “Financial emergencies will happen, it’s only a matter of when,” said Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. More from

When something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. At odds with this old wisdom is a flood of investment information and recommendations to put your money where it supposedly will keep you safe and make you rich. Mirko Vitali / EyeEm | Getty Images The problem is, when you’re just starting out

Students arriving at school Hero Images | Getty Images Most people remember their first summer or after-school job, which provided cash to help pay for college or a car. Today, vehicles and higher education — among other expenses — cost significantly more. Yet fewer teenagers are working. The share of teens participating in the labor

Retirees will spend a significant amount of money on health care. Still, many older Americans don’t plan properly for it. A healthy male-female couple retiring at age 65 in 2019 can now expect to shell out $285,000 on health-care expenses in retirement, according to Fidelity Investments’ annual analysis. Fidelity’s analysis, which assumes the couple are

wundervisuals | E+ | Getty Images When it comes to the forecast for the markets and your investments, there’s good news and bad news. First, the bad news: The S&P 500 may not climb any higher in the last months of this year, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. That’s as the latest market

When it comes to college financial aid, you can’t win if you sit on the sidelines. Students need to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to get in the running for federal and state aid. The average cost of tuition, fees, and room and board reached $21,370 for in-state pupils a

Prospective home buyers arrive to tour a house for sale in Dunlap, Illinois, U.S., on Sunday, Aug. 19, 2018. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Oliver Ellerbe thought he had found the perfect home for his aging parents. The brick house in Katy, Texas, near Houston, was just a five-minute drive from his own

Claire Rhee is a third-year student at Stanford Medicine. Source: Claire Rhee Claire Rhee describes the experience of applying for medical school as “relatively cheap.” Between the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT; application fees at 15 different schools; and other related expenses, she and her family spent close to $9,000. And that was before

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during an event in The Villages, Florida, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019. EveEdelheit | Bloomberg | Getty Images A little-used Medicare option is getting a big push from the White House. An executive order signed on Thursday by President Donald Trump includes a call for

aldomurillo | E+ | Getty Images Congratulations! You’ve saved enough for retirement. Now what? For those fortunate enough to have accumulated a nest egg large enough to last them through their post-working years, some hard decisions can still arise. You don’t want to jeopardize your savings by keeping too much in the stock market (or

Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis once made a huge money blunder — and he’d like others to learn from it. “The biggest money mistake I’ve made — I’ve made a lot of those, by the way — was investing in a project that didn’t exist, that never came to fruition,” said Davis, who

Kevan Earl, 54, has lived in the United Kingdom for the last 53 years. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee, making him an “accidental American.” Kevan Earl Kevan Earl of Manchester, England, may not feel like he is an American. The IRS would say otherwise. The 54-year-old was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to British parents.

Hero Images | Getty Images For people turning 65 next year, the lineup of Medicare supplemental insurance policies — aka, Medigap plans — will look somewhat different. While the options will remain the same for people who turn 65 before Jan. 1, those who hit that Medicare-eligible age after this year will have fewer choices.

Tyler Huck, his wife Claire and daughter Camryn. Source: Tyler Huck When Tyler Huck graduated from college in 2008, it was smack in the middle of the financial crisis. That shaped his views on money and investing. “I saw friends, family lose heavy money on real estate,” Huck said. “I saw parents lose heavy money

Sean Murphy | Stone | Getty Images If you’re taking a hefty check from your 401(k) plan as you leave your employer, you might be making a big mistake. Just over 9 out of 10 employers give their employees multiple options to take a distribution from their retirement plan, according to a new survey from

It’s possible to be a successful investor without a deep grasp of markets, economic principles and math. When it comes to managing your day-to-day finances, that may not be the case. Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines, says the answer isn’t clear-cut. “Yes, your actions matter more than your attitude,” Edelman said. “But your

When it comes to love, debt can be a dealbreaker. These days, one-third of millennials would consider breaking up with their significant other because of a financial secret, such as hidden debt or a bad credit score, according to TD Bank’s fifth annual Love and Money Survey released Tuesday. Still, more than 1 in 4

Sticking to a household budget is apparently difficult. As in, really difficult. While 74% of people say they have some sort of budget, 79% don’t stick to it, according to new research from SlickDeals.net, a crowd-sourced shopping platform. The average weekly amount consumers spend — not counting bills such as mortgage or rent, utilities, etc.

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images Children are pocketing an average of $30 a week in allowance — enough to rack up around $1,500 in a year. But most of them won’t be able to make a big buy with allowance money. Only 3% of parents say their kids primarily save their