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Is It Ever OK to Rob Your Retirement Account? 11/06/2016 07:00pm • Sometimes there are lean times in our lives when we need to find extra cash quickly, and a fluffy retirement account cushioned with years of savings seems like a viable option. In fact, 25 percent of U.S. households that use 401(k)s have withdrawn their plans for nonretirement spending needs, amoun 10 Steps to Develop a Student Loan Repayment Plan 11/06/2016 07:00pm • Develop a Repayment StrategyStudent debt continues to rise among college grads. A recent report from The Institute for College Access & Success found that 68 percent of graduating seniors from the class of 2015 had student loans with an average debt balance of $30,100 -- a 4 percent increase com How retirement benefits will change in 2017 11/06/2016 07:00pm • Financial advisers managing 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts will be required to act in the best interest of their clients beginning in April 2017. There will also be several small tweaks in the rules regarding who qualifies for tax breaks for saving in retirement accounts. Here's a look a 3 Things That Could Lead to a European Banking Crisis 11/03/2016 08:00pm • A eurozone crisis appears to be unfolding right in front of our eyes. Eurozone banks such as the Ireland's Bank of Ireland, and Germany's Commerzbank AG and Deutsche Bank AG (ticker: DB), are down more than 35 percent for the year as nervous investors panic and focus on these financial companies. Th Maryland voter's guide 2016: Key congressional races 11/03/2016 05:43am • WASHINGTON — For the first time in three decades, Barbara Mikulski's name will not appear on the ballot for Maryland’s U.S. Senate race. Instead, voters will be asked to choose between Maryland Del. Kathy Szeliga, U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen or Green Party candidate Margaret Flowers to represe 4 Red Flags Chicago Home Sellers Should Look for Before Accepting an Offer 11/02/2016 08:00pm • Selling a home in Chicago isn't as easy as simply saying "yes" to the highest offer. As every experienced real estate agent knows, things aren't always as they seem. The perfect offer can easily go south for a number of reasons -- the buyer may not have their finances in order, or they may experien Estimate, Set a College Savings Goal 11/01/2016 08:00pm • Brittney Beckhorn, a mom of two in River Forest, Illinois, wondered how other parents were tackling saving for college, so she reached out to a group of moms on Facebook to find out. "Most parents I know with kids about to start college are finding they did not save enough," wrote the 38-year-old on Should You Use Life Insurance to Fund Your Retirement? 11/01/2016 08:00pm • Life insurance was not designed to fund retirement. If your financial advisor or a life insurance salesperson has ever presented this as an option, you should proceed with caution. While an array of permanent and whole life insurance policies make it possible to withdraw cash to fund part of your re Should You Pay for Travel Over Time? 11/01/2016 08:00pm • The holiday travel season is fast approaching, and cash-strapped, credit-adverse consumers now have a few new ways to pay for flights at any time of year. This is good news for some groups, millennials in particular, who have shown a taste for travel and a distrust of credit cards. In August, flig Defrauded Student Loan Borrowers to Receive Relief With New Regulations 11/01/2016 08:00pm • This week, the Department of Education published the final version of the borrower defense to repayment regulations. These regulations are intended to both help borrowers who have been defrauded by their schools receive relief on their federal student loan debt and try to ensure that the federal tax What rising government bond rates mean for your money 10/31/2016 08:00pm • The cost of borrowing money is going up and sooner or later, it's likely to filter through to more expensive home loans. Here's what you need to know to navigate the changes coming soon -- and perhaps even profit. Government borrowing costs are rising fast. The baseline for all borrowing in th 10 Law Schools Where Grads Can Pay Off Student Debt 10/31/2016 08:00pm • The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: 5 new 401(k) and IRA rules for 2017 10/31/2016 05:00am • The contribution limits for 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts will stay the same in 2017. Workers remain eligible to defer paying income tax on up to $18,000 that they save in a 401(k) and $5,500 in an IRA. And employees age 50 and older continue to be able to save an additional $6,000 6 Last-Minute Retirement Fixes 10/30/2016 08:00pm • Once you make it to your 60s, there's not a lot of time left to build wealth for retirement. But you do have some options to quickly and significantly improve your retirement finances. Here's how to boost your cash flow in the years leading up to retirement. Downsize. Retirees no longer need sever How to Get Your Credit In Shape for the Holidays 10/27/2016 08:00pm • It might seem a bit premature to start planning holiday shopping and travel. But there's no time like the present if you want to maximize holiday savings and avoid a nasty financial hangover in the new year. After all, it takes some time to convince a creditor to foot much of the bill. You see, cre