Why do people elect to put their credit “on ice”? If you are worried about getting hacked – and, these days, who isn’t – a credit freeze is a precautionary measure that may be worth considering. Is a credit freeze an iron-clad, 100% guaranteed way to protect...
Things you can do before and for the New Year. The end of the year is a good time to review your personal finances. What are your financial, business or life priorities for 2011? Try to specify the goals you want to accomplish. Think about the...
Here are some things you might want to do before saying goodbye to 2010. What has changed for you in 2010? Did you start a new job – or leave a job behind? Did you retire? Did you start a family? If some notable changes occurred...
The current mortgage market presents homeowners with an opportunity. Mortgages haven’t been this cheap for decades. You would have to go back to the 1950s to find mortgage rates that compare with those in 2010. On October 14, Freddie Mac’s weekly survey estimated the average interest...
A year? Seven years? It depends. You have probably heard that you should retain copies of your federal tax returns for 7 years. Is that true, or a myth? How long should you keep those quarterly and annual statements you get about your investment accounts? And...
What should you store in one easily accessible place? You might be surprised how many people have financial documents scattered all over the house – on the kitchen table, underneath old newspapers, in the hall closet, in the basement. If this describes your financial “filing system”,...