Financial Service Info

When Jewish Woman magazine asked to include me in their cover story—a roundup of financial experts who educate and empower women to take control of their money—I was delighted. Especially since it meant being featured among some of my favorite peers, including Suze Orman (who needs no introduction!), Anamaria Lusardi (a brilliant economics professor at [...]

Credit card debt can drag you down and prevent you from living a better life. The average credit card debt for U.S. households today is close to $16,000. Many people do not have debt on just one credit card but rather several. This debt may be combined with other forms of debt such as student [...]

What is the biggest money mistake you’ve ever made? Instead of saving and investing the $5000 my folks gave me in high school, I spent it all on stuff I don’t even remember now. If I had put that money away in some kind of interest-bearing account for 10 years and contributed $25/week, it would [...]

Hello from D.C.! The President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability meets today, and I’m excited to really make things happen in 2012. Speaking of which… As a member of the Council’s Youth Subcommittee, I’m helping develop a national initiative for families called Money Milestones: 20 things kids need to know to live financially smart lives. [...]

Do you have a credit card that gives you cash back, points, miles or another reward? I recently signed up for a credit card that lets me earn miles toward flights—and just earned my first free flight! The trick, I’m figuring out, is getting the most value out of your points possible. When shopping for [...]

It’s that time of year: cozy couch time, watching the snow fall…and trying not to cry when you open your energy bill. Yes, heating your home can take up a huge chunk of the household budget, so I decided to tackle the topic for my column in the February issue of Redbook.   I found [...]

I’m so excited to be joining the What’s My Score team as a guest blogger. Starting this week you’ll see occasional posts from me on a topic that really matters to me—financial education. I’m passionate about helping to make sure everyone has the money management skills they need. I’ve worked in the field of financial [...]

Yesterday when the markets closed the price of oil was only 66 cents shy of $100. What a come back. We expected oil, stocks and gold to sink down deep…and not come back for a long time. So far, we’re wrong about that. People are still sending money to Wall Street to buy stocks and [...]

If you have a flexible spending account (FSA) and there’s still money left over, this is the time to file claims for all those precious health reimbursements. Why now? Some FSAs expire on December 31, and if you don’t use the money, you lose it. (Some companies offer a grace period through March 15, so [...]