When Texas Gov. Rick Perry called for a $10,000 bachelor’s degree in his State of the State address last year, a lot of people rolled their eyes. The Austin–American Statesman’s headline read: “Perry’s call for $10,000 …
Planning
Imagine No Electricity Bills: The Rise of ‘Net-Zero’ Homes
If done properly, a smartly built green home featuring solar power, energy-efficient appliances, and proper insulation can result in the owner facing monthly electricity bills amounting to $0, or thereabouts. Now, one homebuilder …
Drug Prices Up — or Not? Either Way, Treatments Will Chew Up Retirement Savings
A report on rising drug prices set off alarms among retirement planners. Pharmaceutical companies dispute the findings. But either way retirees must plan on an ever increasing outlay for health care.
With a Pension Shortfall, Companies Want to Kick in Even Less
Just a decade ago pension plans were flush. Today there is a $400 billion shortfall and companies want to do what? That’s right — cut their pension contributions.
Why the Student Loan Situation Is Worse Than We Thought
The latest report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows how dire the financial situation has become for college students with outstanding loans.
Background Check for the Digital Age: Employers, Colleges Insist on Full Facebook Access
For years we’ve been told to keep drunken Facebook photos and racy wall posts private to avoid the judging eye of a potential employer, but now, according to MSNBC’s Red Tape blog, even that might not be enough.
Privacy? Here’s How Data Mining Might Actually Help Consumers
With so much concern over privacy in the digital world, it’s worth noting how the careful disclosure of consumer data might actually help. This is especially true in the area of personal finance, where the newly minted federal …
7 Strategies to Stop Procrastinating
Universities Retool and Boomers Flock Back to Campus
Adults are going back to college to restart their career, switch jobs, launch a second act, or just to have fun learning. But as you might expect, it’s expensive. Here are seven ways one expert says will make going back to campus …
How a Digital Picture of Your Future Self Can Change Your Saving Habits
A realistic vision of what you’ll look like years from now prompts workers to boost their savings rate. Here’s why company HR departments will soon have employees coming face to face with their future self.
License To Sin: When Good Behavior Leads To Bad Results
Most people are taught early to believe in what we might call “momentum morality”: the idea that good (or bad) actions lead to further good (or bad) habits. Economists and other philosophical types call these feedback loops …
Living to 100: As It Becomes Common, Money Regrets Follow
We’re on track for a population with 600,000 folks over the age of 100 by 2050. Yet almost nobody is planning for it financially.