The holiday season can be the very best time of the year. It is often a time of homecoming, celebration, and opportunity to connect with friends and family. However, for many people, the holiday season can also be the most stressful time of the year. There are many reasons for this, but money often tops…
Full Retirement Age: What’s the Big Deal?
I am always getting emails from readers who are so hung up on making sure they start their Social Security benefits at their full retirement age. They don’t want them a month before. They don’t want them a month after. They want to make darn sure that their benefits start at their full retirement age….
You Misunderstood What I Wrote
I’ve been explaining Social Security rules to people for almost half a century now, and I’ve been writing this column for almost a quarter century. I think I do a pretty good job of helping people understand Social Security rules and regulations, and I do it in simple and easy-to-understand language. So I’m always surprised…
Meet Your Own Personal Loan Shark
Imagine paying outrageous amounts of interest to a greedy finance company and loving every minute of it. Or how about making off-the-record, back-alley deals with a loan shark so you can skip all the credit checks and paperwork? Impossible? Not if that loan shark is you. You’ll be borrowing from yourself, making payments to yourself,…
And Baby Makes Three
Dear Dave, My wife and I are expecting our first child in a couple of weeks. I bring home $35,000 a year teaching at a local high school, and she just completed her master’s degree in speech therapy. She has a job waiting for her after the baby is born, and they are being very…
I’ll Tell You What’s Right With Social Security!
I get a lot of emails from readers that start with some version of the phrase: “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with Social Security!” And then they go off on a little bit of a rant, almost always citing some misinterpretation of Social Security laws. In the past, I’ve written a similar column with all…
Budgeting for Christmas
Making a list, checking it twice. Oh wait, it’s not the holiday season quite yet? You may still be enjoying time at the pool, but if you haven’t started yet, now is the best time to start budgeting for Christmas. When you make a Christmas budget ahead of time, you can stop the holiday stress before it…
6 Ways to Do-It-Yourself Home Search
Dear Monty: We want to buy a home, but we have been outbid twice already. Agents say few homes are coming on the market, which is a big reason for the high prices. Do you have any suggestions about how we could find a home on our own? Monty’s Answer: Here is what USA Today…
How to Get Back at Your Creditors
Late fees, punitive interest rates, over-limit fees, loading up your credit report with negative information—it’s enough to make you scream! It’s not that your creditors are doing anything illegal. You just didn’t understand the power you gave them when you accepted that credit card. It was buried in the fine print. And now, it seems…
How to Make an Offer on a Home
Dear Monty: We are first-time home buyers. Being rookies, we get lots of advice from family and friends. Still, the process is different with everyone giving us advice. We would appreciate step-by-step guidance on exactly what we should be doing all the way through. How do we make an offer on a home? Monty’s Answer:…
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