As we continue to push the age of longevity further out, healthcare costs are becoming a bigger and bigger chuck of the retirement expense pie. Many believe that once they reach the age of 65, Medicare will kick in and take care of their healthcare needs. However, studies show that Medicare only covers a little more than half of a retiree’s healthcare expenses. If this shortfall is not something you are actively including in your retirement calculations, it should be...

It’s graduation season, which means there are a lot of 22 year olds out there who are probably walking around completely freaked out about their personal finances now that they have to live in the “real world.” If they’re lucky and their parents let them return to the “nest” they may have a little reprieve before having to face it. But even then, they could use a little advice on how to get on the proper financial footing...

A recent study by the JPMorgan Chase and Company Institute endeavored to answer the question of how much savings a typical household needs in order to weather the average monthly fluctuations in income and consumption it experiences. Below are their results for 5 different income quintiles...

Every household knows that there are 2 sides to a budget – what comes in (income) and what goes out (expenses). In its simplest form, the Federal budget works in the same manner. In this case what comes in (taxes paid by individuals and businesses) pays for expenditures such as Social Security, Medicare, and other spending by all US Departments. The goal of a fiscally responsible “household” is to make sure that income meets, and even better exceeds, expenses...