For six years running, the Federal Reserve has found that roughly 40% of U.S. households would have difficulty coping with a $400 unexpected expense. A financial emergency would hit people 50 and older especially hard; AARP recently found that 51% of A… Continue reading
If you look only at the nation’s low, 3.7% unemployment rate, it would be easy to assume that the economy’s humming and that Americans are feeling great about their finances. But after reviewing five recent notable surveys, I believe many people are ac… Continue reading
(This article is an updated version of a 2018 Next Avenue story.) Here are two safe forecasts, the kind you can count on. First, the U.S. economy will sink into a recession. Second, no one knows when the recession will arrive. Taken altogether, these t… Continue reading
Regrets, I’ve had a few, But then again, too few to mention — “My Way” It seems like every day, there’s a new survey showing how little Americans have saved. Recently, the Certified Financial Board of Standards polled 1,000 people and found that two th… Continue reading
(This article previously appeared on MarketWatch.com in its Best New Ideas in Money series.) While economists disagree over whether there’s a retirement-savings crisis in the U.S., one thing is clear: There’s an emergency-savings crisis. Getting more A… Continue reading