The anniversary date on our AmEx Blue Cash rewards card is in December. That means that the rewards that we’ve accrued throughout the year will be paid out this month. Curious as to how we’ve been doing, I logged in to check…
As a reminder, this card pays 5% on “everyday” purchases (gas, groceries, and drugstores) [...]

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I recently received an e-mail from a reader who is frustrated by their lack of progress when it comes to retirement savings. In short, they thought it unlikely that they’d ever be able save more than a million dollars, if that. Would they still be able to retire?
The short answer is that yes, as long [...]

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Does your employer offer to match a portion of your retirement contributions? If so, are you taking advantage of it? I hope so. If you’re not, you’re leaving free money on the table.
There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not you should suspend your retirement contributions when you’re working to get out of [...]

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I recently got an e-mail from a reader who was concerned about the long-term stability of peer lending outfits like Lending Club. In it, he asked:
Is there any credible data as to how long companies such as Lending Club are likely to persist (5, 10, 20, 50 years)? That’s probably one of my biggest concerns… [...]

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This is just a quick note to point out that GoGo is offering free in-flight internet via a series of promo codes. Airlines offering GoGo include Air Canada, AirTran, American, Delta, United, and Virgin America, though they don’t offer service on every flight.
Apparently these codes are only good once per account, but you can sign [...]

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If you don’t spend the balance of you Flexible Spending Account before the ball drops in Times Square, you forfeit the excess and burn up your savings. Don’t squander your FSA! Let’s go spend some money!
What is a Flexible Spending Account?
A flexible spending account, commonly referred to as an FSA, is an employer-provided benefit that [...]

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The Vanguard Group recently published a list of books about money that would make great Christmas presents. There are nine books about investing, and seven books about financial planning.
Without further ado, here they are…
Books about investing

Winning the Loser’s Game: Timeless Strategies for Investing
A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Straight Talk on Investing: What You Need [...]

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It’s very easy to slip into “keeping up with the Joneses” mode. Your friends have a new TV, or maybe they traded in their old car for a new one. Or perhaps you want to get a nice big house like they have, and take advantage of the homebuyer tax credits at the same time.
From [...]

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With Christmas just around the corner, I though now would be a good time to talk about holiday tipping. To be perfectly honest, our holiday tipping has been somewhat hit or miss over the years, in part because we’re never sure who to tip or how much we should be giving them.
What follows are some [...]

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Back in October, Lending Club hosted a webinar on “Credit & Collections.” Having had a couple of loans go late, and one actually wind up being charged off, I was naturally interested.
While you’re more than welcome to view the webinar itself, it’s about 35 minutes long. Thus, I thought I’d put together an executive summary [...]

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