Finance

The Student Loan Debt and Housing Report 2017 by the National Association of Realtors and the nonprofit group American Student Assistance shows the obvious: Student debt delays household formation, home buying, and saving. [Here are the details summarized for a fast and easy read].

40 years ago, a grand experiment was embarked upon that promised American workers that by contributing to newly introduced defined contribution vehicles they would be better off when they reached retirement age. That raises a simple but very important question: How have things worked out? Well, the bottom line is that the vehicles and the promises made are proving woefully insufficient to fund the "retirement" dream you've been sold your whole life. Frankly put: retirement is now a myth for the majority.

Investing is about taking advantage of higher rates of return and benefiting from the power of compound interest over long periods of time. It’s also about finding the best ways to mitigate the risk via diversification, being patient, etc. Today's infographic outlines the difference between saving and investing, and provides some basic tips on how to get started in the market.

Daydreaming about retirement is easy, but saving for it, however, takes time and effort — and is something a lot of Americans struggle with - but there are strategies that can help make the process easier. Here are 20 ways to pad your bank account before it's time to retire.

The Wall Street Journal writes that "many US states have been slow to improve their finances nine years into the economic expansion raising a risk they won't be prepared when another downturn hits, making them susceptible to big spending cuts that make the next recession worse".

The U.S. is surprisingly low in disposable household income and rather high in income inequality. [In fact,] it is not too much of a stretch to say that the U.S. is now divided into two nations, not entirely separate but increasingly unequal.

Here's some good news for anyone behind on retirement savings: Being a smart saver isn't difficult. There's no magic secret to getting it right. Once you understand the rules of the game, you'll know exactly what you need to do to manage your money wisely as you navigate through life. Here are 5 standard practices that every retirement-savvy saver lives by. Let them inspire and guide you during your own phase of accumulating wealth.

When we talk about investing, we frequently talk about stocks as they are likely to make up a the bulk of your investment portfolio during the majority of your investing years but bonds can be a helpful part of your investment mix at any age, and it's important to understand how they work — even if you don't own many of them right now. This article examines bonds and why we should pay close attention to them these days.

So, you don't want to pay full price for anything you buy and why should you? These days, you have so many ways to get around that pesky price on the tag, and with the latest apps and websites on your side, you can save big with very little effort. Here are 28 ways to get out of paying what's on the sticker.

You need to keep your emergency fund in a safe place that gives you easy access to your money but the problem is that traditional savings accounts — the most obvious place to stash emergency fund dollars — pay so little interest. Your money will sit in a savings account safely, but it won't earn you anything, either. This is where T-bills, or Treasury bills, can help.