Retirees, Check Your Withholding

Tax withholding
    The Internal Revenue Service has a message for you. You may need to adjust the amount withheld from your paycheck or the size of your estimated tax payments because the agency is using new withholding tables this year. Should you underpay your taxes for 2018, you could be hit with a tax penalty
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Getting Your Personal Finances in Shape for 2019

Getting Finances in Shape
  You need not wait for 2019 to plan improvements to your finances. You can begin now. The last few months of 2018 give you a prime time to examine critical areas of your budget, your credit, and your investments. You could work on your emergency fund (or your rainy day fund). To clarify, an
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When Is Social Security Income Taxable?

Social Security Income Taxable
    Your Social Security income could be taxed. That may seem unfair or unfathomable. Regardless of how you feel about it, it is a possibility. Seniors have had to contend with this possibility since 1984. Social Security benefits became taxable above a certain yearly income level in that year. A second, higher yearly income
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Little-Known Homeowners Insurance Facts

Homeowners insurance
  If you have a homeowners insurance policy, you should be aware of what the insurance does and does not cover. These policies have their limitations as well as their underrecognized perks. Some policies insure actual cash value (ACV). ACV factors depreciation into an item’s worth. If someone makes off with your expensive camera that
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Balancing Your Checkbook

Balancing Your Checkbook
    Do you know how much money you have in your checking account? If you keep your checkbook balanced, answering that question becomes easier. Balancing, reconciling, whatever you want to call it – this is a core financial skill, even if you happen to do all your banking online. If you bounce a check,
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Build Your Rainy Day Fund

Rainy Day Fund
    Sometimes, life gets expensive. A little bad luck or a twist of fate can hit us right in the checkbook and challenge us to live within our budget. An emergency fund may help us handle major financial disruptions. For the minor ones, a rainy day fund may suffice. A rainy day fund and
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