Your Money
Combating a Flood of Early 401(k) Withdrawals
By RON LIEBER
Millions of people are clearly not using 401(k) and similar plans as retirement accounts at all, and it’s a threat to their financial health.
What if our financial decisions were transparent to everyone around us? Would it change our choices?
Your Money Adviser
Another College Expense: Preparing for the SAT and ACT
By ANN CARRNS
Test-preparation tutors and classes can be expensive, but there are less costly alternatives.
Charles Schwab to Offer Free Advisory Service for Online Investments
By RON LIEBER
The brokerage firm is moving to compete with companies like Wealthfront and Betterment that put customers into low-cost exchange-traded funds.
AT&T Accused of Deceiving Smartphone Customers With Unlimited Data Plans
By EDWARD WYATT
The Federal Trade Commission said smartphone customers who signed up for an unlimited data plan often found their data speeds reduced if they were in the top 5 percent of users.
The Upshot
A New Push to Get Low-Income Students Through College
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Michael Bloomberg’s charity announced an effort to reduce the number of poor students who excel in high school and fail to get through college.
Retiring
Gaining in Years, and Helping Others to Make Gains
By KERRY HANNON
The 2014 winners of the Purpose Prize, all 60 and older, have volunteered their skills and experience to help people and improve communities.
Wealth Matters
In Some Ways, the Rich Aren’t So Different From You and Me
By PAUL SULLIVAN
Wealthy people and those less so have more in common than most pundits would suspect.
Years After the Market Collapse, Sidelined Borrowers Return
By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD
The return of many of those who experienced foreclosures or short sales in the economic downturn could influence the housing market.
Wealth Special Section
Learn more about time management, limiting risk in your retirement portfolio, the new Gotham funds and luxurious health spas that cater to affluent executives.
Older Women and Challenges of Wealth
By FRAN HAWTHORNE
Thanks to gains made in their generation, and to demographic factors, many women now nearing retirement age control substantial assets.
More Boot Camp Than Spa
By PAUL SULLIVAN
Many established spas and retreats are retooling their offerings to attract the same target: wealthy, successful and highly stressed-out executives.
Making Sure Retirement Savings Don’t Run Out
By CONRAD DE AENLLE
Financial advisers say investment portfolios, financial plans and lifestyles can be adjusted to limit the risk of running out of money before you run out of time.
Big Deal
Pied-à-Neighborhood
By JULIE SATOW
The Census Bureau tracks vacancy rates to find out who lives in Manhattan full time.
DealBook
States Ease Interest Rate Laws That Protected Poor Borrowers
By MICHAEL CORKERY
Lawmakers in several states have voted to increase the fees or the interest rates that lenders can charge on personal loans used by millions of poor or financially struggling borrowers.
Robert Neubecker
Parents may panic when a child reaches senior year in high school and there’s little or no money for college available. Here are some options.
Wealth Matters
At the Top of the World, a View of the New York Real Estate Market
By PAUL SULLIVAN
In the growing market for homes for the ultrarich, what is it like to make a deal?
Retiring
When Planning for Retirement, Consider Transportation
By HARRIET EDLESON
Few people think about the potential challenges of getting around town when their ability to drive declines with age.
Shortcuts
The Downsides of Generous Workplace Perks
By ALINA TUGEND
Some high-tech companies offer top-shelf extras like gourmet meals and child care, but critics say this just keeps people at work longer.
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Your Money Adviser: Lantern, a Start-Up, Offers Online Therapy for Anxiety and More
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Your Money Adviser: Finding the Best Ways to Cut Utility Costs
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Your Money Adviser: Tax Credits for College Can Help Ease Costs
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Your Money Adviser: Back to HealthCare.Gov to Shop for Plans in Open-Enrollment Period for 2015
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Before the Advice, Check Out the Adviser
Money Management
Calculate Your Financial Comeback
See how long it could take for your portfolio to return to its peak value.
The 1% More Savings Calculator
What would happen to your savings balances if you saved just one percent more a year?
Interactive Feature: 31 Steps to a Financial Tuneup
A customizable checklist to guide your own financial tuneup, providing tips, the time needed to achieve them and links to additional resources.
Interactive Feature: Managing Your Money Through the Ages
An interactive checklist to help navigate ways to prepare and secure your financial future at each stage of life.
Financial Calculators
The Upshot
Is It Better to Rent or Buy?
By MIKE BOSTOCK, SHAN CARTER and ARCHIE TSE
The choice between buying a home and renting one is among the biggest financial decisions that many adults make.
Student Loan Calculator
A guide to student loans at various universities, and what it takes after graduation to repay that debt.
INTERACTIVE FEATURE: Sketch Guy: Personal Finance on a Napkin
Carl Richards, a financial planner, has been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.
INTERACTIVE FEATURE: What Percent Are You?
See how your household income ranks in 344 zones across the United States.
What Do the One Percent Do?
Students and Money, in Their Own Words
The college-application essays that four students submitted this year on emerging stronger from economic challenges.
Inexpensive Advice for Index and Exchange-Traded Fund Investments
These companies offer help picking and rebalancing index and exchange-traded funds or similar investments, and none charge more than about 0.5 percent of your assets each year for the privilege.
Sunday Business
The Upshot
When a Stock Market Theory Is Contagious
By ROBERT J. SHILLER
Is the world economy suffering from “secular stagnation”? True or false, the idea alone could keep hurting stock prices.
The Haggler
When a Company Doesn’t Sound Like a Broken Record
By DAVID SEGAL
After asking Comcast about a customer’s billing issue, the Haggler got a quick answer — and a rare look at a corporate attempt, called Einstein, to fix a systemic problem.
The Upshot
Why the Economic Gender Gap Will Eventually Close
By TYLER COWEN
Research shows real differences in men’s and women’s economic behavior, but suggests more equitable times to come.
Applied Science
Your 401(k) Is Healthy. So Maybe You Are, Too.
By MATT RICHTEL
A study finds that people who are good at planning their financial future are more likely to take steps to improve their physical health.
Student Loans
Number of Student Loans in Default Declines
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
It was the first drop in the default rate in years, but 21 schools still have rates so high that they could be barred from federal loan and grant programs.
The Upshot
What We Mean When We Say Student Debt Is Bad
By SUSAN DYNARSKI
Student loans need reform. But recent gloomy reports obscure the key benefit of borrowing for college: a college education.
The Upshot
Q. and A. About Student Debt
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Readers have questions. Co-authors of a recent study from the Brookings Institution have answers.
The Upshot
The Reality of Student Debt Is Different From the Clichés
By DAVID LEONHARDT
A new research paper finds that typical debt burdens have not risen significantly over the last two decades.
Your Money
A Beginner’s Guide to Repaying Student Loans
By RON LIEBER
A road map to help those with student loans steer clear of common repayment mistakes and protect their credit scores.
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The Upshot: A Closer Look at Simplifying Financial Aid Applications
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Your Money: High Cost to Focusing on Student Loans Over Saving
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The Upshot: Remember the Problems With Mortgage Defaults? They’re Coming Back With Student Loans
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The Upshot: Finding Shock Absorbers for Student Debt
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High & Low Finance: The Hefty Yoke of Student Loan Debt
From Sunday Business
The Haggler
Online Jeers, Strangely Giving Way to Cheers
By DAVID SEGAL
Employees of a hair-removal chain — the topic of a previous Haggler column — say superiors asked staff members to post favorable online reviews of the company.
Strategies
When iPhones Ring, the Economy Listens
By JEFF SOMMER
Beyond serving as Apple’s biggest profit center, the iPhone is also a bedrock of consumer spending and the stock market.
Your Money Contributors
Paul Sullivan
writes Wealth Matters, a column looking at strategies that the wealthy use to manage their money and their overall well-being.
Special Sections
Retirement
Valuing knowledge and experience, some employers are making extra efforts to encourage longtime workers to stay.
Giving
Guide dog schools are considered charities that do work of great value, but they have commensurate expenses. Also, a step-by-step guide to choosing a charity wisely.
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- Retiring: Gaining in Years, and Helping Others to Make Gains
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