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7 smart things to do with a tax refund 04/06/2016 09:00am • There's nothing like the feeling of sudden windfall that a tax refund can bring. The possibilities seem endless -- suddenly you might feel you can afford a down payment on a house or car, a degree or a vacation. Last year, the IRS parsed $270 billion in refunds to 100 million people. The average 3 Financial Questions to Answer When Making the Final College Choice 04/05/2016 08:00pm • College acceptance letters have arrived, and families are trying to decipher financial aid awards. By balancing academic, social and financial information, families can make a smart choice together. With college debt on the minds of everyone from students to presidential candidates these days, it co Why Not All ETFs Are Created Equal 04/04/2016 08:00pm • The market for exchange-traded funds, popular stock-market instruments that track all sorts of equity and bond indexes and commodities, is continuing to grow. But some are better investments than others, experts say. At the end of last month, the number of U.S.-based ETFs reached 1,585 with $1.95 b Why You Should Avoid Debt Consolidation Programs - and What to Do Instead 04/04/2016 08:00pm • For people struggling with mounds of debt, a debt consolidation program can seem like a wonderful thing. These programs promise to take all of your debts and reduce them down to one convenient monthly payment, leaving you with only one bill to worry about and a seemingly direct path to debt freedom. When Your Credit Card's Interest Rate Doesn't Matter 04/03/2016 08:00pm • There's a simple way to avoid paying interest on all your credit card purchases: Pay your bill in full every month. You won't need a credit card with a 0 percent APR period, or have to sweet-talk a customer service representative into waiving charges. You can make the interest disappear on your own. How to Free Up Money to Put Toward Retirement 03/31/2016 08:00pm • According to a recent survey by the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies, 61 percent of people currently in their 40s expect to either work past age 65 or not retire at all. The numbers weren't much different for survey-takers in their 50s, with 59 percent expecting to work past age 65 or not 10 Ways You Can Invest like Donald Trump 03/30/2016 08:00pm • Those who think Donald Trump's billionaire business acumen makes him a presidential candidate nonpareil might want to revisit a few of his colossal failures. Like: Trump Entertainment Resorts, a three-time loser in the casino known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Or: Trump Mortgage, which he predicted i 7 Places to Open Your First IRA 03/30/2016 08:00pm • An individual retirement account can be an excellent way to boost your retirement savings, especially if you don't have a workplace retirement account or have already maxed out your employer-sponsored 401(k) plan. But there are so many options available that deciding where to open your first IRA can How Closed-End Funds Help Investors 03/30/2016 08:00pm • Concerns about the global economy's health and rising interest rates shook many financial markets, including closed-end funds. But with stock market volatility easing and the Federal Reserve likely not hiking interest rates aggressively, the performance of closed-end funds is improving. Closed-end 10 Law Schools With the Most Full-Time Applications 03/30/2016 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: C Income Sensitive Repayment: the Forgotten Student Loan Plan 03/29/2016 08:00pm • The Student Loan Ranger talks a lot about the various repayment options available to student loan borrowers. With most of the new income-driven plans, there's usually a caveat that only federal direct loan borrowers are eligible for the plan, while Perkins and federal family education loan borrower 5 Things to Know About Using an IRA to Pay for Tuition 03/29/2016 08:00pm • With the cost of tuition of college and grad school rising, more parents and prospective grad students are looking to retirements accounts, such as an individual retirement account, to pay for school. A 2015 Sallie Mae and Ipsos survey found that 6 percent of parents withdrew from their retirement s Graduate School Alumni Describe How They Chose Their Path 03/29/2016 08:00pm • How does a prospective student make a choice among graduate schools? Here, five former students tell U.S. News why they chose to attend their particular schools. Why I Picked the University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School Lauren Cruz, 2015 graduate and marketing asso How Your Home Stacks Up as an Investment 03/29/2016 08:00pm • With spring comes the peak season for real estate, when homes look their best and buyers are impatient to enjoy the summer in the new place and be settled for school. The home, as we've all heard over and over, is often the household's biggest investment -- not a choice to be taken lightly. But is i Beware the Biggest Threat to Your Credit Score 03/28/2016 08:00pm • You check your credit score, expecting to see your regular 700+ number, but then your stomach sinks. What could possibly have caused it to drop down to 620? You paid your student loans, credit card bills, auto loan and mortgage this month -- as you do every month. This just doesn't make sense! You q