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financial advice

Monday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: 4 blunders to avoid when doing your own taxes. Also in the news: What to do if your W-2 is missing, 6 key investing concepts, and why there’s no such thing as a dumb question when it comes to money.

Doing Your Own Taxes? Pros Say Avoid These 4 Blunders
Getting it right the first time.

What to Do If Your W-2 Is MIA
You have options.

6 Investing Key Concepts — in Plain English
Understanding the basics.

Don’t Let the Fear of Looking Stupid Lead to Money Mistakes
There’s no such thing as a dumb question.

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: 5 signs you’re getting bad financial advice. Also in the news: What a financial advisor does, how Roth IRAs can help in an emergency, and why Wells Fargo customer should check their bank accounts.

5 Signs You’re Getting Bad Financial Advice
Who’s really looking out for you?

What Does a Financial Advisor Do?
Reaching your financial goals.

How Roth IRAs Can Help in an Emergency
An emergency backup fund.

Wells Fargo Customers Should Check Their Bank Accounts
There’s been a “glitch.”

What good financial advice looks like

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Good financial advice can help you achieve your life goals. Bad financial advice can cost you a fortune and leave you worse off than if you had tried to go it alone.

Unfortunately, you’re still on your own in trying to determine the good advice from the bad. The U.S. Department of Labor has delayed key portions of a fiduciary rule that would require financial advisers to put their retirement account clients’ interests first. The provisions are set to begin July 1, 2019, but it’s anyone’s guess if that will happen.

In my latest for the Associated Press, why it’s still a buyer-beware market for financial advice.

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: How not to go broke attending holiday parties. Also in the news: Self-taught financial advisers keep it real about money, how to determine if your taxes are going up, and how to spend your extra FSA money.

You Don’t Have to Go Broke Attending Holiday Parties
Having fun without breaking the bank.

Self-taught financial advisers keep it real about money management
Knowing your limits.

My Taxes Probably Are Going Up. Are Yours?
How to determine next year’s taxes.

How to Spend Your Extra FSA Money
The clock is ticking.

Are you paying too much for financial advice?

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Investment management can cost as little as 0.25 percent of a portfolio’s value each year. Yet many people still pay 1 percent, or even more, for financial advice.

Whether they’re getting a good deal depends on exactly what they get in exchange. Spoiler alert: Many should be getting a lot more, or paying a lot less.

In my latest for the Associated Press, how to determine if you’re paying too much or getting a good deal on financial advice.

When good money advice is bad for you

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Discussing economic class is tricky in America, but the working and middle classes face vastly different financial challenges than upper-income families, and the gaps are growing wider. Good money advice for high earners could be lousy for low earners, and vice versa.

For example, certified financial planners recommend saving a three-month emergency fund before tackling other money goals.

That advice can make sense for affluent families — those who can afford a financial planner — since high earners often have enough discretionary income to create an emergency fund quickly. For families living paycheck to paycheck, the same advice could be an expensive mistake.

In my latest for the Associated Press, why good money advice isn’t one size fits all.