How Mega-Breaches Could Literally Kill You

It was not very long ago that information shared with your doctor was sacrosanct, at the same remove from exposure as utterances made under...
Homeowners

How to Make Sure Your Taxes Are in Shape So You...

How’s your income? That’s the first question a lender is going to ask when you apply for a home loan. And, at some point...
Afraid woman

Help! I Just Found Out I Have Bad Credit

If you’ve gone a long time without checking your credit (or if you’re checking it for the very first time), you may be in...

Will Someone Else Be Cashing Your Tax Refund This Year?

Here is the IRS’s phone number: 800-829-1040. With an anticipated $21 billion in tax refund fraud this year, you might need it. And that...
Financial info

The 5 Most Important Numbers in Your Financial Life

There are a lot of numbers in finances, so it’s understandable that some of us get confused from time to time. That said, there...
Filing taxes

Why You Should Be Careful Who You Pick to Do Your...

When you decide to work with a professional tax preparer, you’re trusting that person with your most sensitive personal information. As a quick Internet...

Why You Aren’t the Only One Who Knows the Answers to...

If you’re protecting important personal accounts with nothing more than a few security questions, it may be time for an upgrade. A study from Google...
Credit Card Interest Rate

How to Score a Lower Credit Card Interest Rate

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first-time in nearly seven years this December, citing improvements in the economy. That means anyone with a...
Responsible financial decision

3 Smart Ways to Use Your Holiday Bonus

More than half of employers (54%) said they planned to give holiday bonuses in 2015, up from 47% in 2014, according to a new...

12 Resolutions That Could Save Your Identity in 2016

Another New Year is upon us. Bring on another raft of resolutions I say! I mean, what would a New Year be in the...
Tax return

4 Last-Minute Tax Moves You Can Make on Dec. 31

Why hello there, Procrastinator. I know you’re busy wondering how 2015 got away from you, but here’s some good news: 1. Clean Your Closet If you itemize deductions,...
Cyber thief

2015: The Year in Data Breaches

Every year at about this time, technology reporters typically recount the big computer crimes from the past 12 months and proclaim “The Year of the Hacker”...
Debt

4 Ways to Jump-Start Your Debt Repayment Plan in 2016

Paying down your debt is a popular and noble goal to work toward. Of course, getting to that zero balance is easier said than...

Beware This Year’s Scams of Christmas

While the concept “forewarned is forearmed” is true for every day of the year, it’s particularly true during the holidays. December is the time...
Home ownership

Why 2016 May Be A Great Year for Homebuyers

The Federal Housing Administration continues its mission to help consumers realize the dream of homeownership. In today’s mortgage lending environment, there are three buckets of loan...
Credit Card

5 Credit Card Mistakes You Repeat Every Year

The approaching new year gives us all an opportunity to remedy financial mistakes — or at the very least, learn from them. But if you...
Tax return

5 Tax Mistakes Newlyweds Make

If you said “I do,” in 2015, cut your cake and hopefully settled into marital bliss, how you file your federal income taxes is...
malware

The IRS Request That Could Help Identity Thieves

More than a year ago, Federal Trade Commission Chair Edith Ramirez asked Congress to strengthen her agency’s data security powers. “Never has the need...
Scam Alert

The Top Scams of 2015

Scams cost consumers more than $1 million this year, according to a roundup of reports by the Better Business Bureau. Since that figure only accounts for...
Data Security

How Much Credit Monitoring Are You Entitled to After a Data...

Given all of the big-name data breaches that have occurred during the past few years, there’s a good chance your personal or payment information...