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Monday’s need-to-know money news

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lottery-ticket-jpgToday’s top story: The high cost of winning a billion dollars. Also in the news: Tips for tackling your student loan costs, how banks are earning billions in ATM and overdraft fees, and basic personal finance facts people constantly get wrong.

The High Cost of Claiming Your Powerball Jackpot
Winning a billion dollars is awfully expensive.

5 tips for tackling your student loan costs
Tackling them head on.

ATM and overdraft fees top $6 billion at the big 3 banks
How much did you contribute?

Six Basic Personal Finance Facts People Constantly Get Wrong
No more excuses.

Wednesday’s need-to-know money news

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailToday’s top story : How to avoid annoying mortgage hurdles. Also in the news: A financial health checkup, how to keep your online tax returns safe, and what to do if you win tonight’s Powerball jackpot.

4 Annoying Mortgage Hurdles & How to Overcome Them
How to have all your ducks in a row.

The 4 Most Important Money Issues That Determine Your Financial Health
Time for a temperature check.

Tips for Keeping Online Tax Returns Safe From Thieves
How to protect your money and your information.

What You Should Do If You Win the Powerball Jackpot
Besides fainting from shock.

10 Simple Money-Saving Tips That Carry A Big Bang At The End Of The Year
Small actions that could lead to big savings by the end of the year.

Tuesday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: How to stop the barrage of credit card offers. Also in the news: How to lower your property tax bills, keeping your financial resolutions, and why playing a lottery that you’ll never, ever win could be a good thing. 3509554-lottery-ticket

How to Stop Getting Credit Card Offers in the Mail
Opting out of the onslaught.

How to Lower Your Property Taxes
Three steps to cutting your tax bill.

Three Ways to Keep Your Financial Resolutions in 2014
How not to break your resolutions by January 2nd.

Why Playing The Lottery Is A Good Investment
Yes, you read that correctly.

Rules to Follow When Giving Gifts in the Office
Navigating the dreaded gift swap.

More mega millions madness: Money pros weigh in

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Here’s a recent post from Credit.com where a bunch of us money types hold forth about the lottery:

Mega Millions Madness: Money Pros Weigh In (via Credit.com)

Let’s face it. When it comes to things like lottery jackpots, personal finance experts and writers tend to be wet rags. We usually put lottery ticket purchases in the same category of money sins as bottled water or spending $5 for a cup of coffee that can be brewed at home for 25 cents. But whom…

[Read more…] about More mega millions madness: Money pros weigh in

You’re not going to win the lottery. But if you do, read this.

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With so much talk about the record Mega Millions jackpot, I thought I’d throw in my two cents:

First cent: You’re not going to win. The odds are ridiculous.

Second cent: If you should win this or any other windfall, even a much smaller one, you’ve got some work ahead of you.

If you’ve never had money, you may not realize how much effort it takes to manage it wisely–and not lose it. You don’t want to wind up like the folks featured in SmartMoney’s “Why lottery winners go bankrupt“–lottery winners who went bust, or even to jail.

So here’s my MSN column “You won the lottery. Now what?” When you don’t win, you can still read it for advice about what to do should any major windfall enter your life.