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    Retirement Tips from Real People

    Retirement Tips from Real People
    Our readers offer their own tips for what you can do now for a happy retirement: Spend less. Save more. Most of all, make sure you have someone to share your retirement with. Start by living below your means, says Gabe Renzo, 63, of Dearborn Heights, Mich. Young people today, he believes, don't save enough money, and the main reason they ...
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    Personal Finance: 20 Dos & Don'ts for 2009

    Personal Finance: 20 Dos & Don'ts for 2009
    During the worst economic crisis in a lifetime, the right financial decisions are crucial. BusinessWeek asked financial planners for some advice on what to do—or not to do—with your money in the New Year. As we bid farewell to a dreadful 2008, these "resolutions" may help keep your finances on the right track in 2009: h4. 1. Don't try to predict ...
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    Protect Your Personal Information in a Disaster

    Protect Your Personal Information in a Disaster
    As we've sadly witnessed from events in recent years, disasters--be it hurricanes, earthquakes or wildfires--are an inevitable fact of life. And just as you might create a disaster plan to protect your house and your personal belongings, you should consider protecting your personal and financial information as well. Think of securing your personal information in the same way you think of ...
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    Bailout Bill Extends Tax Breaks for Individuals

    Bailout Bill Extends Tax Breaks for Individuals
    In 2008, legislation was passed to help rescue US markets and the economy. But did you know that these bailout bills also included a bundle of income tax breaks? The biggest ones are known as "extenders" - popular tax breaks that might seem permanent to most taxpayers, but actually must be renewed every year or two. Stuffed inside the *Emergency Economic ...
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    Six Tips to Put Your Financial House in Order

    Six Tips to Put Your Financial House in Order
    If you want to spend less time worrying about your money, then it’s time to get your financial act together. These six strategies can help improve your financial situation and simplify your life at the same time. h4. 1. Put Your Savings on Autopilot If you haven’t maxed out your 401k or other retirement plan at work, add an extra $50 ...
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    Seven Steps to Get A Loan For Your Business

    Seven Steps to Get A Loan For Your Business
    Loans are a time-tested way of raising capital for your business. We would love to tell you that it is as easy as going to the bank and asking for money, but as you probably know by now it is quite the opposite. We wrote the following steps to help you raise the right amount of capital to get your business ...
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    Six Tips to Put Your Financial House in Order

    Six Tips to Put Your Financial House in Order
    If you want to spend less time worrying about your money, then it’s time to get your financial act together. These six strategies can help improve your financial situation and simplify your life at the same time. h4. 1. Put Your Savings on Autopilot If you haven’t maxed out your 401k or other retirement plan at work, add an extra $50 ...
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    Past Bankruptcy Can Haunt Your Job Hunt

    Past Bankruptcy Can Haunt Your Job Hunt
    If you’ve declared bankruptcy in the past, be prepared to defend that decision to a potential employer. It’s illegal for an employer not to hire or promote you because you filed bankruptcy, but it’s sometimes OK to consider bad credit, which usually precedes bankruptcy. Companies often check credit when a job involves finance, accounting, cash or valuable merchandise and when a ...
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    How Much Should You Save?

    How Much Should You Save?
    If you're 40 or younger, it's tough to predict how much money you might need when retirement is decades away. A few key calculations, however, can help you make sure your savings plan is on track. h4. Saving Depends on Life Stage Rebecca Pace, a Cincinnati-based financial planner and CPA, recommends putting aside at least 10 percent of your income when ...
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    Budget Your Bonus

    Budget Your Bonus
    Memo to Americans: As a group, for every $1,000 we bring in after taxes, we are saving $7, according to the Commerce Department. Why bring this up? Because if you're anticipating an annual bonus this year, you should probably skip the cruise. Considering salary increases are barely keeping pace with inflation, no wonder white-collar workers are coveting those bonuses to help ...
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    Need a Loan? Tap Your 401(k), Without Penalty

    Need a Loan? Tap Your 401(k), Without Penalty
    Michael Amstein decided to strike out on his own last year, leaving behind his job as an executive at an ambulance company. The 43-year-old Denver native carefully weighed the pros and cons of various franchise options and eventually decided to open a Nestlé Toll House Café at a local mall. But when he applied for loans, Amstein couldn't come up with ...
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    The Layman's Financial Crisis Glossary

    The Layman's Financial Crisis Glossary
    The current financial crisis has thrown terminology from the business pages onto the front page of newspapers, with jargon now abounding everywhere from the water cooler to the back of a taxi. Here is a guide to many of the business terms currently cropping up regularly, as well as some of the more exotic words coined to describe some of ...
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    Action Now = Tax Savings in April

    I keep hearing that I should do something or other to improve my tax situation before the year ends. Is there really anything I can do at this point? Whether you are having a good year, rebounding from recent losses, or still struggling to get off the ground, you may be able to save a bundle on your taxes if you ...
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    2009 Predictions for the Housing Market

    Happy New Year to you all and thank you for all you do to make our country great. You are all so appreciated. I’ve been asked write up a 2009 housing prediction, but this is nearly impossible to do with significant accuracy. But, I’ll take out the crystal ball and do my best so you can know what this housing expert ...
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    Get Back to Work with the Best Deal

    Get Back to Work with the Best Deal
    I once received a letter from a woman who had just gotten a job offer. She had been unemployed for three months and wanted to know if she should accept the offer or try to negotiate for more. She felt the offer was low - less than she had been making at her last job - but was afraid that if ...
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    Eight Tips for Job Hunting During the Recession

    Eight Tips for Job Hunting During the Recession
    The global credit crisis and flat-lining domestic economy could make this one of the most challenging times to be looking for a job in recent history. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed increased to 11,000, and the December 2008 unemployment rate hit 7.2 percent - the highest level in sixteen years. In the financial services industry ...
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    Look for Work in Troubled Times

    Look for Work in Troubled Times
    It's hard enough to job hunt in a thriving economy, but now, even the heartiest job seeker may be inclined to roll over and catch a few more z's rather than hit the streets. Don't quit looking before you start. Job hunting requires you to pull out all the stops and take the basics to a new level. You truly have ...
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    The Layoff Survival Guide

     The Layoff Survival Guide
    This article offers general information on legal and financial matters relating to employment. For specific information relating to your situation, please consult an attorney, financial planner or appropriate government agency. Now that you've lost your job, you need to hurry up and find a new one, right? Wrong. You've got to buck up and tie up loose ends with your ex-employer ...
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    Laid Off? Six Steps to Manage Your Finances

    Laid Off? Six Steps to Manage Your Finances
    No one is immune from layoffs. Whether you're 22 or 52, odds are that sooner or later you will find yourself, often through no fault of your own, out of work. So it makes sense to plan ahead. Most financial advisers suggest saving the equivalent of six months' salary to tide you over if you lose your job. You will probably ...
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    Your Job Search Expenses May Be Tax-Deductible

    Your Job Search Expenses May Be Tax-Deductible
    Did you spend substantial amounts of money looking for a new position last year? You may be able to succeed where Nelson Rockefeller failed and take a tax deduction for many of your job search-related costs. When New York Governor Rockefeller was appointed vice president in the '70s, he deducted expenses incurred in connection with his congressional confirmation hearings. Years later, ...

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