My employer recently switched HSA providers. The old one had horrible investment choices, but there were no fees associated with the standard savings-type account once you hit a fairly low minimum balance requirement. The new one? Fees.
We’re now facing a $2.75/month charge with no way of escaping it. As many of you know, you’re not [...]

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Saving money on car insurance or home insurance is one of the most gratifying ways to cut expenses. After all, it’s not like dropping cable or eating out less. If all goes well, you save money and it doesn’t even feel like penny-pinching. Shopping around regularly for lower premiums has a high payoff for the [...]

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Another followup to my article about HSA contribution limits for 2013… A reader named PC had the following to say about my plan to invest within our HSA:
I am not especially well informed about the HSAs but I understand the purpose of the HSAs is that they have a tax benefit in order to encourage [...]

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In response to my article about HSA contribution limits for 2013, a reader named Stephanie asked the following:
Is there any good way to calculate which health plan is right for you? I’ve been having trouble the past few years deciding between the regular PPO and the HDPPO, but my health care costs are usually pretty [...]

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It’s never too early to look ahead to next year. With that in mind, I wanted to highlight the 2013 HSA contribution limits. As many of you know, we’ve been using our health savings account as an additional retirement investment vehicle. That is, we’ve been contributing to it and saving up the documentation related to [...]

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If you, like me, have been around since nearly the dawn of time, you likely recall an early 1970s TV show called Marcus Welby, M.D. The show’s premise was simplicity itself. A kindly old doctor, who teamed with a young, studly, hipper doc, made house calls on a variety of patients, and usually became ensnared [...]

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A reader named Jimmy recently wrote in with a question about deducting losses associated with a home fire:
We had a fire last year. We lost our furniture, my wife’s clothes, etc. We were renting at the time and had no renter’s insurance. The fire department couldn’t determine the cause. Can we deduct any of these [...]

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If you’re a healthy adult in your 50s, it may be hard to think of yourself needing long-term care. But that’s just when you should be thinking about it, say long-term care insurance industry experts. The cost of long-term care insurance rises yearly as you grow older.
If you’re going to buy a policy to protect [...]

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When was the last time you told your car insurance company how many miles you actually drive every year? It was probably the last time you shopped around for a new car insurance policy. Is that number of miles driven still correct? Have circumstances in your life changed such as a new job that requires [...]

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I recently learned that my co-worker’s house was broken into, and she did not have renter’s insurance to protect her family’s possessions. The thieves stole cash, electronics, and other valuables from their apartment.
When she told me they didn’t have renter’s insurance, my immediate followup question was, “Why in the world not?”
Renter’s insurance is very cheap, [...]

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