The wedding is over, and you’re finally married. Congratulations! Now, let’s see if I can help you stay together. One of the biggest problems newlyweds face is dealing with money—especially today, when couples are getting married later in life and each person has established his or her own habits and relationship with money. It’s hard [...]
In the go-go housing market that prevailed leading up to 2008, many people came to believe that they couldn’t go wrong investing in a home (i.e., buying a house and throwing as much money as possible into maintaining and improving it). When home prices were rising steadily—one could say precipitously—for nearly 35 years leading up [...]
“How long should I keep my tax paperwork?” This is a tax question people ask me regularly, often while they are pleading to be released from the towering burden of mounds and mounds of tax records. It’s probably not practical to store the paperwork forever, but you know my “rule of records”: the minute you [...]
I remember buying my first home. It was a Victorian cottage on Long Island that I painted creamy yellow and carnation pink. I didn’t think about the cost of insurance when I bought it. I was young and naive; I only saw the beauty of that house. I didn’t even consider the insurance costs. As [...]
When my husband and I were preparing for the birth of our son nearly 12 years ago, we were daunted by everything we were told we were supposed to have. It looked as though having a baby would bankrupt us. Today, costs are higher, and the list of things you should supposedly have for baby [...]
Getting an inheritance can be such a bittersweet experience. You might receive lots of money or special mementos from the deceased, but the person with whom you’d like to share the experience is gone. During this trying time, it’s likely that the last thing on your mind is taxes. But taxes are an important consideration [...]
I have counseled numerous families on how to manage their finances, and there’s been a common issue among many: how to best help an adult child with his or her financial issues, from struggling to make mortgage payments to managing overwhelming credit card and student loan debt. Adults face a tough job market today—even with [...]
After a lot of scrimping and saving, you’ve finally started building up some retirement savings in the form of a 401(k) or IRA. If you’re lucky, you may even have an emergency fund set aside in a savings account. But your financial situation could quickly change, whether as a result of a layoff, a medical [...]
Your home is one of your most interesting assets when it comes to income taxes. It’s easy to avoid paying taxes on most (or all) of the profits once you’ve sold it, and you can even turn home ownership into a tax-free source of income. When you sell your home, you can exclude a big [...]
Can money buy happiness? That’s an age-old question, and one that I think that everyone asks themselves at some point. Most people wonder if all of their hard work will pay off and give them the financial freedom and happiness they seek. In short, the answer is yes—and it can be purchased for a lot [...]
