The NFCC’s 2011 Financial Literacy Survey found that 42% of adults garnered most of their personal finance knowledge from their parents. Only about 1 in 10 adults learned about this subject at school or from a financial professional.  It is now more important than ever to make sure your children understand the basic concepts of [...]

Recent college graduates are undoubtedly anxious to get on with their lives and do very grown-up things such as enter the workforce, buy a car and upgrade from dorm life to a nice apartment. The reality is that it’s going to take credit to achieve many of their dreams, and if they’ve not established credit [...]

Yesterday over 100,000 Americans went online to watch President Obama answer live questions from Twitter users for the first “Twitter Town Hall.” For an hour, he answered questions from consumers about the economy. According to the White House, most of the questions concerned jobs (23%), the budget (18%) and taxes (11%). It seems that Americans [...]

Today, you can get insurance on almost every purchase you make. Besides the traditional, such as auto, home and life insurance, you can also insure your computer, MP3 player, jewelry and works of art. Celebrities have even gone as far as to insure particular body parts: Bruce Springsteen’s voice is insured for $6 million dollars, [...]

For incoming freshmen, college means one thing: freedom. It also is usually a person’s first experience with credit cards. According to a recent study by Student Monitor, nearly two-thirds of college undergraduates acquire their first credit card before age 19. Eighty-seven percent of those are freshmen. While college is full of exciting and new adventures, [...]

Living without a savings account is tantamount to a trapeze artist flying without a safety net. But in our economy, many people wonder where they can find the money to save. Creating a budget is crucial to being in control of your finances because it is a simple way to monitor your expenses. However, our [...]

As Father’s Day approaches, many dads begin reflecting on the life skills they’re teaching their children. Nice manners, discipline and a good work ethic top many lists. Not to be overlooked, however, are financial skills, because regardless of whether they are taught formally or by example, parents pass along their financial habits to their children. [...]

Have everyone in your household who spends money track their spending for 30 days. At the end of the month, come together to review the findings and determine where the leaks are. Jointly decide how to plug them. Make adjustments so that your budget reflects exactly how you want your hard-earned money to be spent. [...]

I believe one of my greatest attributes is that I’m a realist. And, as a realist I know you are going to use plastic to make purchases, and that’s perfectly fine as long as you don’t let the plastic ruin your life. But before you decide on the type of plastic to use consider the [...]