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money rules

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: 8 rules for saving, borrowing, and spending money. Also in the news: How purchase plans pay advances could change in 2022, how to find the hidden costs of starting a small business, and 1 in 5 Americans are saving less for retirement due to Covid.

8 Rules for Saving, Borrowing and Spending Money
The best personal finance advice is tailored to your individual situation.

How Purchase Plans and Pay Advances Could Change in 2022
BNPL and paycheck advance companies may draw the attention of competitors and regulators in 2022.

How to Find the Hidden Costs of Starting a Small Business
Discover some of the expenses to plan for when launching a business and how to learn about industry-specific costs.

1 in 5 Americans are saving less for retirement due to Covid
For those playing catch up, there are ways to get back on track, and free resources to help.

8 rules for saving, borrowing and spending money

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The best personal finance advice is tailored to your individual situation. That said, a few rules of thumb can cut through the confusion that often surrounds money decisions and help you build a solid financial foundation.

In my latest for the Associated Press, guidelines for saving, borrowing, spending and protecting your money culled from nearly three decades of writing about personal finance.

Tuesday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: How to create a retirement ‘paycheck’. Also in the news: Handy money rules of thumb for a quick financial checkup, how one woman ditched nearly $60K of debt in less than a year, and the retirement savings blind spot you don’t realize you have.

How to Create a Retirement ‘Paycheck’
Creating a reliable retirement income stream is complex but worth it.

Handy Money Rules of Thumb for a Quick Financial Checkup
Stop winging your way through it.

How I Ditched Debt: A Spender, a Saver and Dreams of a Family
How one woman conquered nearly $60K of debt in less than a year.

The retirement savings blind spot you don’t realize you have
You could be retiring too early.

12 Money Rules to Live By

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iStock_000018407605_SmallOne-size-fits-all financial advice isn’t supposed to work. We’re all as unique as snowflakes, so the financial rules that guide us should be molded to our individual situations.

Except it turns out that rules of thumb can be really helpful.

A study of West Point cadets, for example, found teaching rules of thumb was at least as effective as standard personal finance training in increasing students’ knowledge and confidence as well as their willingness to take financial risks. Researchers found money rules of thumb actually were more effective than teaching accounting principles to small-business owners in the Dominican Republic.

Besides, we all have busy lives — sometimes, we just want an answer. In my latest for NerdWallet, 12 money rules to live by.