washingtonpost.com - The Color of Money
The Color of Money

• Investor Beware: The Con Is On
  It's the season to scam.
  I think I've used the phrase "low-life bum" more than I care to as I've read story after story this past year of investors being ripped off in new and old scams.
• Brush Up on Your Tax Facts to Save More Next Year
  Have you recovered from filing your 2004 tax return? If so, get busy preparing for next year.
• Managing Retirement, Automatically
  Automation can be a wonderful thing. Now, investors can select a mutual fund that will automatically adjust their investment portfolios. This fairly new fund option is called life cycle investing.
• Ways to Make Sure You Can Pay for the Golden Years
  "Both my husband and I are nearing retirement age and are concerned about having enough money for our golden years."
• Retirement Savings By the Book
  The retirement savings story in America plays like a scratched record. Again and again we hear the same line: Most people aren't saving enough for their retirement.
• Car Buying Doesn't Have to Be Combat
  I recently received an e-mail from Ryan Bachman, an operations manager at an automobile dealership in Louisville, who sincerely wanted to know the answer to some questions about car buyers.
• You Can't Save 'Too Much' For Retirement
  When I solicit comments or questions, I don't want you all to think they go into the abyss, never to be read. I do read your questions and comments and, while I can't respond to all, here are answers to some:
• Tax Prep Calls for Careful Steps
  The time is coming faster than you think. Yes, it's tax crunch time.
• Youth Is Fleeting, But Debt Isn't
  I had no idea I would touch off such a storm when I wrote that college students, who are racking up student loan debt that could take them two or three decades to pay off, can't afford to take spring break vacations.
• Can't Be Sure of Credit Status, Even With a Scorecard
  Humorist Mason Cooley once said, "Every path to a new understanding begins in confusion."
• Mandatory Counseling, A Good Idea in Theory
  Under proposed bankruptcy legislation, which appears to be on the road to passage, individuals will have to undergo some form of credit counseling at least 180 days before they are allowed to file for bankruptcy protection.
• 'The Most Important Financial Number'
  Anyone who uses credit ought to know what a credit score is. And surveys show that most people do.
• Retirement's Instruction Manual
  The humorist Mason Cooley once said, "In retirement, only money and symptoms are consequential."
• On Spring Break, With Their Heads in the Sand
  Typically when people talk about March Madness, they're referring to the NCAA basketball tournament. But I want to discuss another March Madness. It's the madness that must afflict the thousands of college students who take spring break trips they can't afford.
• A Big Refund Isn't Great News
  Many of us have been told all our lives that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
• Bankruptcy Bill Lingers in the Ring
  The relentless battle by Republicans in Congress, egged on by the credit card industry, to push through a bankruptcy bill reminds me of George Foreman and the rope-a-dope boxing technique Muhammad Ali used on him in their historic fight in 1974.
• Honey, I Stretched The Fiscal Truth
  Well, the results are in for the "Honey, I Need Some Money" contest. Let's just say I winced more than I laughed.
• Be Cautious About Merging Your Money With Your Honey
  The couples who are most successful in managing their money are those who communicate early and often about money, agree on goals and roles, and recognize that essentially they are partners in business together, says Joan L. Gulley, chief executive of PNC Advisors, a major wealth manager.
• Embarrassment of Riches
  A new study from the Visa credit card people found that an increasing number of affluent individuals report embarrassment with being identified with wealth and status.
• Loan Terms Can Make It Hard to Climb Out of the Subprime Pit
  Those of us who live in the high tower of creditworthiness can't imagine not negotiating for the best mortgage loan. We can't fathom not finding lenders willing to cut us a break by eliminating certain fees or expensive loan terms.