Personal Finance News, Banking, Budgeting, Saving & Investing News at WSJ.com

How to Fix Your Life in 2009
Frugality is, once again, a virtue. To help you settle into this strange new world, WSJ reporters have dug deep into their beats to offer advice that will help you make your dollars work harder.

Common Sense

Lessons From the Madoff Scandal
An alleged fraud like Madoff's Ponzi scheme could have happened to any of us. A look at lessons to be learned, though not necessarily the ones that have been touted by much of the media.

Family Money
Assessing Risk: Questions to Ask Yourself
To help you decide how you want to invest in 2009, here are questions to ask yourself in addition to ones that measure your risk tolerance.
Money
Groups Oppose Easing Insurer-Reserve Rules
As state insurance regulators fast-track industry proposals to cut the amount of money that life insurers must set aside for benefits, consumer groups are crying foul.
ROI
12 Lessons for Investors From 2008
Here are a dozen lessons that investors can take away after the terrible times of 2008.
Investing
Goodbye 2008 …
After years when the housing bubble inflated and Americans' debt soared, it came back to earth in 2008.
- …and Hello New Year
Yoder & Son
Christmas in Slovakia? It's All About Priorities.
Despite a worrisome economy, Steve thinks the personal costs of missing a Christmas vacation far outweighs the financial ones.
Smart Money
New Rules Come to Cardholders' Aid
The Fed gave consumers some relief when it voted this month to enact a new set of regulations governing the credit-card industry.
Family Finances
Creative (and Fast) Ways to Donate
Donating to charities can be an easy and creative way to trim your 2008 tax bill.
Barron's Insight
Some Retailers Are Still Iffy Bets
Investors hoping to find bargains among beaten-down retail stocks should check the balance sheets of any retailers whose shares they're considering buying.
MarketWatch
Rates Boost Refinancing's Appeal
Interest in refinancing is growing as eligible borrowers can lock in rates that haven't been this attractive in decades.
Health Costs
Wellness Help at Work
Employers and health insurers now offer full or partial coverage for everything from weight-loss advice and gym memberships, which carry benefits for employees and their companies.
Investor's Calendar
GM to Get Government Funds
GM expects to get its first round of government loans this week, while FedEx will shave nonunion salaries by 5% to 10%.
Taxes
Last-Minute Tips for Slashing '08 Taxes
Tom Herman offers a few last-minute ideas for filers to cut their tax bills for 2008.
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Retirement Planning
Some Breathing Room for IRAs
Retirees who ignore the annual distributions they are required to take from their IRAs usually run a big risk -- in the form of a 50% excise tax on the amount they should have withdrawn. But not next year.
Tax Report
The Next Wave of State Taxes
State fiscal experts say the stage could be set for a wave of rises in state sales and personal-income taxes more widespread than any since the early 1990s.
Common Sense
Finding the Best of Times Out of the Worst
Despite the hardships and gloom, recessions offer us an enormous opportunity to examine our goals and priorities, and shake up the status quo.
ROI
The Next Auto Bailout: Escape Your Car
Whether you drive a hybrid or an SUV, your car is a cash-guzzler. Families trying to save real money should consider going without, writes Brett Arends.
Personal Finance
After Madoff, Donors Are Wary of Giving
An increasing number of donors are losing confidence in the ability of charities to safeguard their money. Here's a guide for vetting charities.
Money
How to Fund Retirement Living
In these rough economic times, funding long-term care poses a challenge for seniors and their families. Here are some strategies you can pursue.

Tax Report

Taking Credit for Energy Efficiency
Thinking about energy upgrades for your home in 2009? A look at various federal and state incentives to make your home more energy efficient.
Cheapskate
How Cheap Is Too Cheap?
Neal Templin wonders whether he's so cheap his family would "breathe a sigh of relief" when he dies. The trick, he says, is curbing spending without making life miserable.
The Intelligent Investor
How Madoff Made People Look Dumb
Of all people, sophisticated investors like Madoff's clients should have known that if something sounds too good to be true, then it's not. But they believed it anyway. Why?
Yoder & Son
Readers' Turn: Clunkers, Job Loss and More
Readers respond to recent Yoder & Son columns.
Crunchonomics
A Survival Guide for the Downturn
A collection of recent Journal articles and past advice on what readers can do to secure their family finances, careers, retirement savings and homes during financial turmoil.

The Wallet

Is Your Long-Term-Care Policy Safe?
What to do if you're worried about the financial soundness of your long-term-care insurer.
Loose Change: 12/30/08
Loose Change: 12/29/08
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The Wealth Report

Madoff and the ‘I’ve Got a Guy’ Syndrome
Bernie Madoff was the ultimate "I got a guy." Today, the "I've got a guy" model is under attack.
How Could Wealthy Investors Be So Blind?
How to Downsize Your Nanny
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RSS Feed

Journal Community
- Ask & Answer ▶
“Are investments in mutual funds protected by the SIPC just as brokerage accounts are?”

Family Finance

College Bills Wallop Families
As the economy shrinks, many students and their parents are struggling to make payments for the second half of the academic year.
Nothing Says Christmas Like a Used Bicycle
In Tough Times, Nannies Get the Ax

Insurance

Surprise Health Bills Incite Anger
What to do if you're hit by balance billing, a practice that can leave insured patients with an unexpected medical bill.
Beware of Out-of-Pocket Costs
Is Your AIG Policy Safe?

Investing

Fiscal Stress Can Be Family-Room Topic
This holiday season, as you clean up under the Christmas tree or put away the menorah, set some time aside to talk about how the financial crisis may affect your family.
Why I'd Buy Apple Today
After a Rough Year, Stocks That Succeeded

Loans & Credit

'Underwater' vs. Foreclosure
Why most people who owe more than a property's worth will still keep their homes.
Debt-Relief Firms Attract Complaints
Your Cash: How Safe Is Safe?

Taxes

Many Distributions Still Apply for 2008
The Treasury has confirmed it won't make changes for IRAs and 401(k)s for 2008. So, if you haven't taken your required distribution for 2008, do it now.
IRS Revises Its Mileage Rates
Auto Bailout May Aid Transit Agencies

Retirement Planning

Subscriber Content Read Preview

Converting to Roth IRA Has Advantages
While you do have to pay income taxes upfront on the account's value when you roll over traditional IRA assets to a Roth, that income-tax bill could turn out to be a relative bargain amid the stock market's recent dive.
How to Fix 401(k)s
Dealers Can Help Lick Tax Issues for Stamps, Coins

Columns

R.o.i.
By Brett Arends
12 Lessons for Investors From 2008
Ask encore
By Kelly Greene
Converting to Roth IRA Has Advantages

Tax report
By Tom Herman
Taking Credit for Energy Efficiency
The intelligent investor
By Jason Zweig
Fiscal Stress Can Be Family-Room Topic

Real Estate

How Six Cities Weathered the Slump
The global economic crisis has taken its toll on real-estate deals in practically every market. Here is a scorecard of how some of them fared this year.
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New York Housing Prices Expected to Fall Further
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L.A. Luxury Hotels Brace for Downturn

Autos

Squeezing More Miles Out of That Hybrid
A small but growing group of mechanics is engineering an automotive insurgency: They're converting Toyota's Prius hybrids into plug-in electric vehicles, doubling the car's fuel efficiency.
Ford Bets on Self-Parking Vehicles
GMAC Revs Up Car Loans

Fitness & Health

FDA Considers Updating Plavix Label
The FDA is considering updating the label for anticlotting drug Plavix to include data on genetic factors that could interfere with the medicine.
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Drug Researcher Agrees to Curb Role
Subscriber Content Read Preview

Bayer Sues Abbott Over Humira

Careers

New High-School Elective: Put Off College
More high-schoolers are opting for a gap year -- taking a year off before going to college -- for an opportunity to gain life experience and focus on personal goals.
Capturing the Courtroom Word for Word
Banker Gins Up a Liquor

The Financial Crisis

Wall Street's Hard Times, in Rhymes
From property-themed haiku to TARP limericks, this year's Wall Street crisis inspired a crop of financial poetry.
Subscriber Content Read Preview

Converting to Roth IRA Has Advantages
While you do have to pay income taxes upfront on the account's value when you roll over traditional IRA assets to a Roth, that income-tax bill could turn out to be a relative bargain amid the stock market's recent dive.
Why I'd Buy Apple Today
Shares in Apple – as well as the company's computers – could be a smart buy right now, writes Brett Arends.
After a Rough Year, Stocks That Succeeded
Even in a dismal year for stocks, something must go up. The winners of 2008, according to Brett Arends: Pasta, vaccines, oil exploration and smokeless tobacco.
- Personal Finance How-To Guide
Madoff Case Raises Compliance Questions
Questions about compliance practices at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities are troubling many securities industry observers, as losses continue to impact a widening circle of investors.
Alternative Energy
Here's a look at four funds that focus on alternative-energy investments.

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R.O.I.

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