Blogs

Your Easiest New Year’s Resolution: Make Your Savings Grow Faster Sticking to your new year’s resolution is often a time-consuming proposition. Want to get fit? Be ready to spend hours at the gym. Considering a side hustle? Goodbye, weekends. But if your resolution is to save more, there’s one quick way to start: Open a high-yield online savings account. You can do this at many banks in less than 15 minutes, and you’ll earn at least 20 times more interest…

Holiday Shoppers, Beware of These 3 Identity Theft Risks Big sales, must-have items and a list that just seems to get longer: Holiday shopping can drain your wallet and your sanity. Don’t let the stress erode your guard against identity theft, though. All that holiday shopping can leave you more vulnerable to scams. “It’s the fact that we’re not paying attention that makes the holidays so risky for ID theft,” says Eva Velasquez, CEO of Identity Theft Resource Center, a…

Make a Plan to Save 30% or More on Your Heating Bills October is Financial Planning Month – and there’s nothing better than making a plan to save money. If your utility bills in winter put a crunch on your budget, these tips to reduce energy usage can help. #1: Turn down the thermostat You can save as much as 10 percent a year on heating and cooling by simply turning your thermostat back seven to 10 degrees for eight…

How to Budget for December Holidays in October You might have pumpkins on your porch, but it’s already time to make room for the year-end holidays in your budget. “I was at Costco the other day, and I already saw Christmas trees, [so] we need to be thinking about it right now,” says Nick Givogri, a California-based regional executive for investment service Merrill Edge. Here’s how to get started. Work backward Your past holiday spending is the best indicator of…

3 Healthy Financial Habits to Start Now Developing healthy financial habits can do wonders for helping us achieve our goals, and the earlier you start, the better! Here are three habits to start today: Write down what you spend Budgeting is the foundation of personal finance. If you’re new to budgeting, the first step is to write down all of what you spend: it could include the coffee you get each morning, the sofa you purchased for your apartment or…

Ace Back-to-School Shopping With 6 Smart MovesBack-to-school shopping is an expensive chore. And if you shop local sales, it’s a chore you’ll share with thousands of other parents in the vicinity. If it’s big savings you’re after when you brave the crowds, sales flyers won’t cut it. You’ve got to get creative.“Back-to-school shopping can put a big strain on family budgets, but planning ahead to take advantage of discounts, setting a budget, and only buying what your child actually needs…

How to Safeguard Your Cash and Personal Info at ATMs An ATM can be a lifesaver when you’re on the go and need some fast cash. But as helpful as these machines can be, they’re also magnets for fraudsters who are out to make a quick buck. In fact, criminals stole data from magnetic-strip debit cards at ATMs at the highest rate in over 20 years during the first several months of 2015, according to a report in The Wall…

Best Ways to Save on Summer Vacation With school letting out and sultry summer days ahead, it’s time to start thinking vacation. Because it’s a supply-and-demand world, you’ll likely be up against higher airfare, hotel costs and car rental rates. But here are some tips to help keep things affordable. If by air … If you plan to fly domestically, your best chance to score cheaper fares is by booking about 60 days in advance. For international travel, make it…

How to Manage Your Finances After Graduating CollegeYou’re done with college, and now you’re ready to be on your own. But for newly minted grads who didn’t major in money management, here’s one last assignment: Summer reading to help with your financial future.That degree you earned might open the door to a higher salary — and carry a student loan burden — so it’s important to know how to balance it all as you set the stage for the rest…

Financial Literacy for Kids As part of our Financial Literacy Month blog series, and in celebration of Take Your Child to Work Day, we’re talking about ways to educate children about finances. Remember, it’s never too early to start teaching kids about money. Good skills, that are learned at an early age, can have a lasting impact for the rest of your child’s life. In fact, this is one of the most important areas where you can truly change the…

How to Budget When You Have Seasonal Income Rewarding careers don’t always come with a steady paycheck. For people who work in agriculture, construction, tax preparation, entertainment, landscaping or other types of freelance and seasonal businesses, income may vary wildly depending on the time of year. This uneven cash flow makes budgeting especially challenging, but it’s by no means impossible. Here’s how to budget for long-term financial stability when your income changes with the seasons. Determine your average monthly income…

5 Tips to Get Back on Budget After the Holidays Between the expensive gifts, festive light-up sweaters and fancy dinner parties, it’s likely you went a little over budget during the holidays. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic. “Don’t get discouraged,” says Howard R. Pressman, a certified financial planner and partner of Egan, Berger & Weiner LLC in Virginia. “Everybody, it seems, has kind of fallen off the wagon from time to time, and staying positive and keeping…