April 15 gets all the attention, but it’s not the only tax deadline. If you turned 70 1/2 in 2013 (or if someone in your family did), you’ve got an important one coming up. April 1 is the deadline for people who turned 70 1/2 to take their first annual required minimum distribution (RMD) from… Read More

Retiring can be a frightening subject. Where is the income going to come from once you pull the plug? How much will you need? How will you spend your days? These are all important questions you have to address. But what if you don’t have the answers? The last thing you want to do is… Read More

FICO announced Wednesday it would release its latest credit scoring model, called FICO Score 9, this summer. As with all credit scoring formulas, the idea is for this FICO Score 9 to be the best indication of consumers’ creditworthiness. Credit scores are predictive models that help lenders decide whether or not to approve a borrower… Read More

Wasting time recently on a discussion board for rabid sports fans, my eyes stopped on a phrase that shocked me: “endowment effect.” Dropped casually in among the emotional discussion of who’s the best offensive or defensive player was a high-fallutin’ term from economics. I thought it out of place for a moment, but quickly realized… Read More

Thousands of credit and debit card numbers seem to have been stolen from Sally Beauty Supply, a national beauty-products chain, according to a report from security blogger Brian Krebs. About 282,000 stolen cards went up for sale on an underground crime store March 2, Krebs writes, and a sample of cards bought and analyzed by… Read More

We’ve all had the experience of answering the phone only to have the “Sorry, I think you have the wrong number” conversation. Maybe there’s some awkward exchange after that, perhaps an apology, and then someone hangs up. The end. Imagine it went differently: What would you do if the caller said, “I don’t care you’re… Read More

Home equity lending surpassed 2009 levels in 2013, with $111 billion in new home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) opened. In the fourth quarter, new lending increased 43% from quarter four 2012, according to data from Experian-Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports and Experian’s IntelliView tool. For those familiar with the events leading up to the… Read More

An 18-year-old who sued her parents to compel them to pay for her college education and other living expenses was denied her request for emergency funds in a court hearing Tuesday. There will be follow-up hearing April 22 to decide whether her parents will be required to pay college tuition. The teen is living with… Read More

You’ve seen the stories about people who earn all kinds of free travel rewards with credit cards. But perhaps you think it’s too complicated or too much of a hassle. Or maybe you are worried about how applying for all those cards will affect your credit. Is it really worth the trouble? Absolutely, says Brian… Read More

Being in debt can feel like you have a cloud hanging over your head. But there are different kinds of debt. Some debts exist for a relatively short period of time (say less than a year) while other debts can span decades. The most common forms of long-term debt are home mortgages, student loans and… Read More