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When people want to protect important papers like their wills and trust documents, or valuables like rare coins or precious jewelry, they understand that it’s not generally wise to keep them laying around the house. Much better—so goes the conventional wisdom—to put those items in one of the 25 million safe deposit boxes at local bank branch offices around the U.S. There, they’ll be protected by a foot-thick steel door and a system with two keys, one kept by the customer, one by the bank.

Chances are that you know that the Social Security trust fund is due to run out of money—or “deplete its reserves” as economists put it—by the year 2035. The actual time frame depends on some forecasts, including economic growth, number of workers who remain in the workforce and the number who retire—but the clear point is that Congress is going to have to take action in the next few years if it wants to prevent a lot of angry seniors from heading vengefully to the polls.

Giving to a charity is easy, right? You write a check and send it off to your favorite 501(c)(3) organization, and get a full deduction for the amount on your tax return, up to 50% of your adjusted gross income.

We all know that inflation gradually erodes the value of our dollars, and you’re probably aware that this is one of the main reasons for investing in the stock market. If you hide your money safely under your mattress, it becomes incrementally less valuable each year depending on the inflation rate. To keep pace, you have to find ways to make it grow at least as fast as the value of a dollar is falling.

Everybody should have a power of attorney—that is, a legal document that gives a designated individual the right to act on their behalf when making financial decisions. The power of attorney is most often used by adult children to make decisions on behalf of aging parents when they are no longer capable of making sound decisions on their own.

Why are some people wealthier or more successful than others? The default explanation has always been that the wealthier among us are more diligent and/or smarter or more talented than the less wealthy so that the cream eventually rises to the top.

Growing up, it’s not uncommon to get “the talk” from your parents. Of course that talk is usually about the birds and the bees, not your emergency savings or 401(k). So, let’s have that chat now, shall we?

Technology for health is finally moving beyond the Fitbit and counting your steps, to more complicated and useful feedback like improving your posture and correcting your running stride.

When people want to protect important papers like their wills and trust documents, or valuables like rare coins or precious jewelry, they understand that it’s not generally wise to keep them laying around the house. Much better—so goes the conventional wisdom—to put those items in one of the 25 million safe deposit boxes at local bank branch offices around the U.S. There, they’ll be protected by a foot-thick steel door and a system with two keys, one kept by the customer, one by the bank.

Chances are that you know that the Social Security trust fund is due to run out of money—or “deplete its reserves” as economists put it—by the year 2035. The actual time frame depends on some forecasts, including economic growth, number of workers who remain in the workforce and the number who retire—but the clear point is that Congress is going to have to take action in the next few years if it wants to prevent a lot of angry seniors from heading vengefully to the polls.

Giving to a charity is easy, right? You write a check and send it off to your favorite 501(c)(3) organization, and get a full deduction for the amount on your tax return, up to 50% of your adjusted gross income.

We all know that inflation gradually erodes the value of our dollars, and you’re probably aware that this is one of the main reasons for investing in the stock market. If you hide your money safely under your mattress, it becomes incrementally less valuable each year depending on the inflation rate. To keep pace, you have to find ways to make it grow at least as fast as the value of a dollar is falling.

Everybody should have a power of attorney—that is, a legal document that gives a designated individual the right to act on their behalf when making financial decisions. The power of attorney is most often used by adult children to make decisions on behalf of aging parents when they are no longer capable of making sound decisions on their own.

Why are some people wealthier or more successful than others? The default explanation has always been that the wealthier among us are more diligent and/or smarter or more talented than the less wealthy so that the cream eventually rises to the top.

Growing up, it’s not uncommon to get “the talk” from your parents. Of course that talk is usually about the birds and the bees, not your emergency savings or 401(k). So, let’s have that chat now, shall we?

Technology for health is finally moving beyond the Fitbit and counting your steps, to more complicated and useful feedback like improving your posture and correcting your running stride.