Personal Finance

If you have any money in financial stocks, last week was a dizzying one for you. And this week might not be any better, analysts and investment strategists said.

After IndyMac Bancorp failed, customers waited in line for hours to collect their money. The police had to be called in to quell the mob. The scenes brought to mind dire moments from the Great Depression. This time, with satellite TV trucks parked outside the bank's branches, the world watched la...

Many of the exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes being marketed these days make about as much sense for your finances as an all-nighter at the craps tables in Atlantic City. For example, DB Commodity Double Short ETN promises to give you twice the inverse of the daily moves in prices of a...

The investment world seems to grow more convoluted by the day. Sector funds proliferate. Sponsors of exchange-traded funds issue ETFs of increasingly narrow scope (and dubious merit). What if you could simplify things and merely make a one-investment decision?

Ever wonder whether your portfolio is on track? Not sure whether your investments make sense? Each month, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine provides a reader with a financial makeover to ensure they're on track to meet their goals. Below, check out our recent Portfolio Doctor columns, each...

By and large, you're better off avoiding empty gimmickry of investments that overpromise, such as securities that guarantee they will never lose money (they usually don't make any, either) or funds that swear to double the market's gains (and that also happen to triple its losses).

One way to empty a crowded theater: Shout the word mortgage. So imagine how hard it is for an insurer -- even one with two other business lines -- to shake the taint.

Just when you thought that the drive toward better financial accounting couldn't be stopped, a stick may be shoved into the spokes. A decision expected soon from a federal court might throw the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into limbo. The law, also known as SOX, is essential to the movement for accurate an...

Keeping your furry friend happy and healthy may not be as easy as you think. Medical bills and pet insurance can be expensive but necessary.

Q The value of our family's home, bought at the peak of the housing market two years ago, has declined so much that we've lost all our equity, and it's now worth less than the mortgage. But the fixed-rate monthly payment hasn't changed, and we can comfortably afford it.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance shows you how to avoid the most annoying fees and save thousands of dollars a year

Lighting a metaphorical fire under a hospital or other medical provider could prompt it to slash a few zeroes from your bill.

Financial crisis, slowing economy, rising inflation -- what a perfect recipe for a boost in gold prices and shares of gold-related companies.

How bad has it been for mortgage-finance firms and thrifts? Of 168 publicly traded companies, 95 percent suffered stock declines in the past year through Tuesday, which was before last week's bounce. Nine of the stocks were trading at less than $1. Among the worst hit: Radian, a provider of...

After a hectic week of economic news, it's time for a breather. This week should be far less busy than last week's combination of inflation data and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's testimony on Capitol Hill. Instead, we get a week highlighted by a report with essentially no numbers in it...

Short sellers sometimes elicit strong opinions among investors. The practice, in a nutshell, involves selling borrowed shares, which the short seller hopes to replace later at a lower price. Because short sellers profit when stocks fall, critics often demonize them as nothing more than nattering...

Join me today at noon ET to talk about your personal finance crisis or the one imploding outside your home.

The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is doing something that should have been done a long time ago.

It's refreshing to hear the views of grizzled money managers, veterans who have invested money through innumerable market cycles. Jim Moffett, who has 35 years of investment-management experience under his belt, says today's situation reminds him of the early 1990s. "It took three to four years to...

Some bets are just too good to be true. Such was the case with the failed buyout of regional casino operator Penn National Gaming (symbol PENN ) by two private equity firms for $67 per share, or $8.9 billion. The market never took the offer -- announced at the height of merger mania -- seriously,...

Consumers have lots of questions about their bank accounts in light of the troubles at IndyMac and other institutions. Staff writer Nancy Trejos sought some answers.

Yet another venerable fund has reopened its doors to new investors. After being shut for six years, T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value quietly began accepting new money in May.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not banks. But like most financial companies, they stand or fall on public trust -- and right now, fewer and fewer people are confident that the two government-chartered mortgage-finance companies can survive on their own.

The reports just keep coming that consumers are still having difficulty paying their debts.

Here are a few simple steps to help you cut the cost of keeping a full tank.

A recession means more dinners at home in front of the TV and fewer nights on the town at the swankiest eateries. With more people trading their dinner menu for a bag of groceries, Kroger (symbol KR), the nation's largest supermarket chain, is reaping the benefits.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance shows you how to avoid the most annoying fees and save thousands of dollars a year.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant mortgage-finance companies, came through last week battered and bloodied -- just as investors in their stocks may be feeling right now. But, as the cliche goes, with the blood running in the streets, is it time to feel upbeat about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?...

Their rise was as solid as, well, steel. From Jan. 2 to June 25, U.S. steel stocks shot up 37 percent. They, like other resource stocks, were riding high. Then something happened. The rising cost of another resource -- oil -- knocked the outlook for economic growth and possible demand for steel. ...

It should be a blockbuster week for economy-watchers. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will be on Capitol Hill giving his semiannual testimony on the state of the economy; expect him to describe major threats to both growth and inflation. On Wednesday, the Fed wi...

What's the best way to finance a large household project?

What's the best way to finance a large household project?

Ask yourself a host of questions. Is this a prudent expenditure given your current financial situation? Will the project improve your property's value enough to warrant the expense? Bathroom and kitchen projects are typically good investments.

My wife and I gross more than $190,000 in income. But after 401(k) contributions and other adjustments, I think we are below the max of $160,000 to contribute to a Roth IRA. How do I know for sure? Is there a line on my 1040 that tells me?

How fun is your workplace? Authors Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher say that humor on the job promotes creativity and helps to attract and retain employees. The two argue their case in The Levity Effect: Why It Pays to Lighten Up (Wiley, $22.95). The book is this month's Color of Money Book C...

As gas prices continue to soar, schemers are ramping up claims that they have just the right device or additive or some other gizmo for better fuel economy.

Kids generally get a bad rap when it comes to their knowledge of personal finance. In the 2008 survey of high school seniors by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, the average score was 48%, down from 52% in 2006.

Although he founded a company that has become almost synonymous with mutual fund analysis, Joe Mansueto, Morningstar's chief executive, is at heart a stocks guy. He began his career as a stock analyst at Harris Associates, which runs the Oakmark mutual funds. At Morningstar's headquarters, in...

Value investing, usually the most rewarding way to invest, has fallen on hard times. As a result, some value managers with outstanding long-term records are looking like fools.

When the price of oil goes up, retail stocks go down. "It's just a mechanical phenomenon," says Lawrence Creatura, co-manager of the Touchstone Diversified Small Cap Value fund. And it's not an irrational phenomenon. Rising oil prices mean higher gasoline prices, and more-expensive gas pinches...

The Federal Reserve is under fire. First, it was blamed for the stock-market bubble of the late 1990s. Then it was castigated for the real estate bubble. Now, with gasoline prices hitting previously unimaginable heights, critics are asking why the Fed isn't doing more to pop the oil bubble, which is...

Talk about a fall from grace. Legg Mason Value, managed by the once-revered Bill Miller, has performed so poorly the past two and a half years that Morningstar now gives the fund one star, our lowest rating. But should it really come as a surprise that Miller, who was once the talk of the investing...

Are charitable donations of IRA money permitted after tax years 2006 and 2007?

When the economy lags, small-company stocks do, too. Small companies are less likely than their bigger brethren to withstand declining sales. Their businesses are likely to be less diversified, and their balance sheets are usually weaker, too. Plus, investors assume that famous or gigantic companies...

The prospect of $200-a-barrel oil used to be unthinkable. But crude's price has already more than doubled in the past year, to $139 in mid June, so another 44% rise is hardly unimaginable. Goldman Sachs analyst Arjun Murti, who accurately forecast triple-digit prices several years ago, says oil will...

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new rule that might have passed you by. I'm alerting you here because it speaks volumes about where trading is going in the United States. For many, it offers new opportunities. We'll also be importing new risks, in the future, that we may...

Some 122,000 borrowers with Countrywide home-equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, received letters in January informing them that they could no longer withdraw funds from their lines. A few months later, thousands of customers of other major lenders -- including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase,...

If you wanted to put all your eggs in one basket and forget about them, a global balanced fund seems hard to beat. Such an all-in-one fund invests in a broad range of stocks and bonds in the United States and overseas. You don't have to figure out how to distribute your money among different assets...

Kiplinger's Personal Finance shows you how to avoid the most annoying fees and save thousands of dollars a year.

If you bought shares of a mutual fund, wouldn't it comfort you to know that the fund's manager had sunk some of his own money into the same investment? And what if you were to learn that your fund manager -- the custodian of your investment dollars -- didn't have enough faith in the fund to toss in...

After last week's big jobs report, settle in for a quiet week of readings on the economy. More interesting than any data this week may be congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., who will explain to the Senate Banking Committee...

Since 1945, the average bear market has lasted about two years and knocked the S&P 500-stock index down 36 percent. Now is not the time to drink the "buy and hold" investment strategy Kool-Aid. Be conservative, limit your risk -- and sleep well knowing your investment principal is not going to...

If I don't want to be in stocks right now, what should I do with my investment money?

If I don't want to be in stocks right now, what should I do with my investment money?

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers seems to have a lot going against it. There's growing concern that strained consumers will buy fewer suits in an economy that is almost certainly in recession. The Hampstead, Md., men's clothing retailer has more than twice as many days of inventory as its main rival, Men's...

A recession means more dinners at home in front of the TV and fewer nights on the town at the swankiest eateries. With more people trading their dinner menu for a bag of groceries, Kroger (symbol KR ), the nation's largest supermarket chain, is reaping the benefits.

I know this is the day before the July 4th holiday, but before you skip town or work, join me for a live discussion about personal finance matters. Who knows, I may be able to save you some money before you celebrate Independence Day.

We've all been so focused on whether we are officially in a recession that we may not have paid enough attention to the creeping threat of inflation.

Mega-cap stocks were pulverized during the 1973-74 and 2000-02 bear markets. But mega caps -- stocks with the largest market capitalizations -- have performed so poorly for so long that they're now among this difficult market's most enticing stocks.

Bearish financial news dogged managers, advisers and others who were in Chicago for Morningstar's annual mutual fund convention, which ended June 27. Shares had crumbled 3% the day before, putting the major stock indexes on the cusp of bear-market territory and confirming that the down trend that...

The dollar buys much less than it once did. And that's bad news for stores that specialize in selling items for $1 or less. Such retailers are pinching pennies as their aisles are brimming with more customers who want bargains. Among this beleaguered pack, Dollar Tree (symbol DLTR ) has managed to...

Editor's note: This article is adapted from Kiplinger's Retirement Planning 2007 guide. Order your copy today .

This has been a dreadful year for most stock markets in Asia. China and India, the two giants, have been two of the world's worst performers. Of course, that comes after several bull-market years.

In 2001, the clever folks at Goldman Sachs coined a new acronym: BRIC. BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China -- the four colossi of the developing world. BRIC is a marketing slogan, but it's one that captures the imagination and simplifies the investment story in emerging markets.

Value-oriented fund managers have had to navigate a minefield over the past year. Financial stocks, which are typically important holdings in a value portfolio, are sucking wind. Meanwhile, energy stocks, which look awfully overvalued to many bargain hunters, have been the only sure way to make a...

One of the overarching themes at this week's annual Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago is inflation, which is rearing its ugly head around the globe.

In describing America more than 170 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville may have unwittingly anticipated the nature of modern financial markets when he wrote that he knew of no other country in which there was "so little independence of mind." Nowadays, once people become fixated on the desirability of...

Shannon Hassemer went on a shopping spree when she got her first credit card in college. Tired of owning just one pair of tennis shoes, she quickly filled her closet with luxury items from designers such as Gucci, Coach and Louis Vuitton.

Far too many people are buckling under the strain of running a household as consumer prices rise, home values decline and banks tighten up on credit. There's such financial distress across the country because of mountains of personal debt that any new president will have a difficult time trying t...

The U.S. economy might be slumping, but the global transport of oil, liquefied natural gas, coal, iron ore, steel, grains and other high-value cargoes continues to surge. In the first quarter of 2008, for example, the volume of goods on containerships traveling from Asia to Europe increased 12 pe...

Q If I freeze my credit report to prevent identity theft, will I be able to rent a car? I know some companies check your credit report as well as your credit card.

Part II Kiplinger's Personal Finance shows you how to avoid the most annoying fees and save thousands of dollars a year.

Say somebody steals your wallet while you're traveling. Wouldn't it be convenient to recover copies of crucial credit card information and other documents from any computer, anywhere?

The short holiday week will be a busy one for economic data, offering new insights into whether the nation's economy is holding up or getting worse this summer. On Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management will release its June survey of manufacturers and on Thursday will report on the service...

The Chinese stock market has so mesmerized investors in recent years that many have overlooked promising smaller exchanges right in the neighborhood. Case in point: Taiwan, according to Yiannis G. Mostrous, editor of the Silk Road Investor, an emerging markets newsletter.

The credit crisis isn't hitting just shoppers and homeowners. Payday lenders, who extend short-term, high-interest loans to consumers; as well as other firms that provide personal credit lines, loans and cash advances, have slumped on Wall Street. Heightened regulatory scrutiny of payday lenders ...

For a few months, it seemed the worst was over. But after the Dow Jones industrial average neared bear market territory last week, investors and their advisers were left wondering once again how much more they can take.

My mailbox has been full of comments on recent columns about life in homeowners associations, uncertainty with short sales and deciding how much money to invest in a bathroom.

Consumer confidence is in the gutter, and that's good news for the fast-food industry. High fuel and food prices may be pinching consumers, but overworked Americans are unlikely to cut back on dining out. They are likely, however, to "trade down" to the more affordable fare that fast-food...

I may have been married almost 17 years, but I'm not too old or too married to know that too many couples marrying these days are the worst kind of beggars.

The law of supply and demand is about to show its power. With crude oil selling for about $135 a barrel, look for energy companies to do all they can to churn out more supply. At the same time, expect consumers to consume less, something that's already happening in the U.S. as Americans cut back on...

I have a work permit and I want a summer job badly. Can u please help me? I need money to buy a cell phone. My mother said I could clean the garage or the basement for $5, but I have a very messy garage and basement. How can I persuade my mom to pay me more? Can you make me a loan so I can get...

It's time to think outside the big box when it comes to real estate investment trusts. The NAREIT composite index of U.S. property-owning REITs rose strongly in the first five months of 2008, but it began to sink in early June and is now flat year-to-date through June 24. The group yields 5% on...

By Ilana Polyak Has the high cost of food put you on a long-term diet? Before you give up eating entirely, here's something that may not whet your appetite but will certainly boost your portfolio: Along with food prices, the price of fertilizer is also soaring. That's provided a terrific wind at the...

Harding Loevner is hardly a household name in the mutual fund business. That's because the 19-year-old Somerville, N.J., firm, which specializes in international markets, has catered primarily to institutional investors.

The Fidelity brand has been synonymous with sensible mutual fund management ever since the company launched Fidelity Fund in 1930. But when the firm appears to be buying into a fad -- as it does in launching Fidelity 130/30 -- investors are right to be skeptical.

Latecomers to the oil-price rally may figure it's too late to get in on the action. At $134, the price of a barrel of crude has doubled over the past year, and it's up 40% since January 1. Skeptics are even suggesting that energy investments are a bubble ready to pop.

Need money? Got a cash-value life insurance policy? Not feeling too well these days? You may be approached to sell your policy to an investor for cash up front. Maybe that's a good idea, but maybe not. You might part with a valuable policy unnecessarily and incur taxes you didn't expect.

Many seniors sell their life-insurance policies to raise cash. When you (or a family member who may own the policy on your life) sell the insurance, the buyer becomes the owner and beneficiary. On your death, this stranger stops paying premiums and collects the death benefit.

Q I recently heard that a cousin's son is attending our state university free, with a state-funded scholarship for brilliant students. His parents are millionaires and could easily pay the boy's college expenses themselves.

Lawsuits over the subprime mess and other recent financial calamities will probably drag on for years, making it worth looking for companies that benefit from our love of litigation.

The economic action this week isn't the release of data but a meeting of the Federal Reserve policymakers. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee will probably decide to leave the bank lending rate it controls unchanged at 2 percent. Futures markets price in a 90 percent chance...

The need to upgrade the tech capabilities of business and government is a constant -- whatever the economic conditions. That's good news for some information technology companies, such as Integral Systems, which was up 68 percent over the 12 months ended Wednesday. The Hackett Group rose 60 percent,...

Fund managers around the world have become an awfully gloomy bunch. Peering into the future, they detect a gathering tide of declining profits, higher interest rates and rising inflation, according to this month's Merrill Lynch survey of asset allocations and market expectations.

Part I In this series, Kiplinger's Personal Finance shows you how to avoid the most annoying fees and save thousands of dollars a year. Think you have never been charged a sneaky fee by your bank, broker, credit card issuer or cellphone provider? Then you haven't looked at your bills very closely...

Increasing struggles by consumers and businesses to make payments on a variety of loans, not just mortgages, are setting off a new wave of trouble in the financial sector that is battering even institutions that had steered clear of the subprime-home-loan debacle.