As 2017 draws to a close, it’s time to begin organizing your finances for the new year. To help you get started, we’ve put together a list of key planning topics to consider. Savings and investments Revisit your retirement contributions. Review how much you’re contributing to your workplace retirement account. If you’re not taking full advantage
The cost of college is steadily rising, and student loan debt has reached crisis status. What does this mean for you? It is more important than ever to commit to saving for the education expenses of the future scholars in your life. But making that commitment to save is just the first step. Next, you
After years of dutiful payments, you find yourself in the enviable position of having enough accumulated savings or discretionary income that you could aggressively pay down—or completely pay off—your mortgage. But should you? Are there better ways to ensure your financial security? Making the best choice for you Paying down your mortgage faster—or paying it
Have you ever used Dropbox or Box.com? How about web-based mail, like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, or Hotmail? If you consider that all of these are clouds—as are most Google apps—it’s hard to find an Internet user who doesn’t have some information in the cloud. As cloud-based services become more prevalent, you might be wondering: Is the cloud
The concept of Medicare can be murky for soon-to-be retirees. If you learn basic enrollment guidelines and some of the nuances of various Medicare plans, you’ll be empowered with the knowledge you need to make better decisions—and avoid costly penalties. Here, we explore key points and address common questions about this federal health insurance program.
Maybe you and your family have already attempted to have “the conversation.” You know the one: the discussion about your and your spouse’s assets and what will be done with those assets during the rest of your lives and after you pass away. Perhaps, because of your children’s sibling rivalries, the family conversation turned to
If you’ve checked the news in the past month, you’ve likely heard of the WannaCry ransomware attack, one of the most widespread cyber attacks to date. Security experts estimate that more than 200,000 users have been infected with this malware. Once infected, all information on the user’s computer is encrypted (i.e., locked away) unless a ransom
According to the Pew Research Center, 87 percent of Americans use the Internet. This means most of us maintain at least some personal and financial information online. We pay bills online, keep contact records digitally, and rarely print a photo—because it’s in our online photo album. Although this digitizing of information makes it easier to
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLFP) began in 2007 with a simple idea: forgive the student loans of borrowers employed in crucial but often low-paying government or nonprofit positions after they make timely payments for 10 years. Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education lists a broad range of jobs that are eligible for
Did you know that phishing (i.e., scam) e-mails account for about 91 percent of all cyberattacks? In other words, nearly every cybersecurity issue you could think of—from viruses, to ransomware, to full-blown data breaches—starts with users accidentally clicking malicious links in e-mails. On the technology end, spam filters and antivirus scanners combat the threat of phishing e-mails.
