Your Money

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow industrials closed at a record high on Thursday, boosted by gains in Wal-Mart, but the S&P 500 was little changed as energy shares tracked crude futures prices lower.

• 11_12 MarketSense with Greg Burns

Lenders were offering 30-year fixed mortgages to solid borrowers this week at an average of 4.01%, a Freddie Mac survey found, down a hair from 4.02% last week.

• New rules would boost consumer protections for prepaid cards

I read your column detailing what Medicare will cost in 2015 (kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T039-C001-S003-what-you-ll-pay-for-medicare-in-2015.html). But I didn't see a mention of the Medicare Part D doughnut hole. Isn't the gap in coverage shrinking again?

The nation's top consumer financial watchdog is taking aim at the booming but lightly regulated prepaid card industry with new rules to protect customers from the vagaries of bank-like operations.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - AT&T Inc on Wednesday raised pressure on the U.S. telecommunications regulator's work on new "net neutrality" rules, saying it would stop investing in high-speed Internet connections in 100 cities until the Web rules were settled.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc elevated 78 employees on Wednesday by making them partners, according to an internal memo viewed by Reuters, capping an anxious few weeks for employees hoping to enter the elite group of Wall Street bankers.

On November 15 (and through February 15, 2015), the second open-enrollment period will begin for individual health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Despite a dreadful rollout, during the first Open Enrollment period, 8 million individuals signed up for non-group coverage through...

On the top of my washer-dryer, there's a bucket full of old cut-up T-shirts and other scraps that we use for cleaning instead of buying paper towels. I stock up on six months' worth of toilet paper at a time -- it comes out to 50 cents for a giant roll. And when the dish soap is almost empty, I...

By now, you've digested the news that bond guru Bill Gross has left Pimco, the firm he cofounded 43 years ago, to join Janus. But what does that mean for the money you have in Pimco funds? Should you stay or go?

Dear Liz: My mother, who is widowed, has credit card debt. When she dies, are my sister and I responsible for that debt? There is no estate, but she does have a small amount of life insurance that mainly would go toward her funeral expenses and fixing things in her home to get it ready for...

Sometimes, you have a bad day at the office. Sometimes you have a very bad day at the office. And then you have Terri Lynn Land, who, on Election Day, had an extremely terrible, horrible, no-good unbelievably very bad day running for office.

For years, Owen Murray believed that Pacific Investment Management Co. was a safe bet for his clients for one big reason.

If you haven't booked your flights yet for Thanksgiving and year-end holidays, now is the time to start searching and plotting how to get a reasonable deal.

The recent whirl of promotions and revamped plans can leave even the savviest wireless customer feeling confused. So to help cut through the clutter, we picked outstanding plans that match your usage profile and priorities. Keep in mind that your choice of plan may still hinge on which carriers...

Moving higher for a second week, the 30-year mortgage rate broke back above 4%. Freddie Mac calculated that lenders were offering the most popular home loan at an average of 4.02%.

Pity the poor consumer of financial services. According to The Financial Planning Coalition, a collaboration of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards ("CFP Board"), the Financial Planning Association® ("FPA"), and the National Association of...

More people are working during their retirement years than ever before. It is important to know the potential disadvantages as well as the advantages. You should definitely know that wages earned in retirement can affect Social Security benefits for you and your dependents.

What financial planning would you do if you could spare 60 minutes in your day? That was the question Fidelity Investments recently posed to women (as well as men) in a survey in October.

Large employers have been rolling out a slew of 401(k) bells and whistles designed to get workers to save more, but what about those who are going it alone?

Investors poured billions of dollars during October into smaller rivals of Pacific Investment Management's Total Return Fund, the enormous mutual fund once overseen by "bond king' Bill Gross, who quit Pimco abruptly in late September. 

A real estate agent who has experience leasing properties is a good place to start. Be prepared to meet prospective renters so you can ask questions that aren't covered by boilerplate applications. The signed leasing agreement should list the expenses the tenant is responsible for, such as...

When you think of mighty dividend payers, some big names instantly come to mind: Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and McDonald's, to name a few. But the list of dividend-raisers goes well beyond household names. These three stocks boast yields that are close to or more than Standard &...

Dear Liz: I was a volunteer for a research study at a local university. It required a blood draw done at the university's hospital. A month later, I received a bill for the blood draw, which I questioned. I was told it was a mistake and that I was in no way responsible for costs associated with...

Merry Christmas, everyone!

1. Prepare to share. Family members may want their own copies of Grandma's wedding album. You can scan and digitize prints and slides at home (a photo scanner starts at about $200), but if you have a lot of pics, send them to a service such as FotoBridge (http://www.fotobridge.com) or...

A federal bankruptcy judge approved the city of Stockton's bankruptcy recovery plan Thursday and sidestepped challenges to its workers' pensions that could have threatened municipal retirement plans across the state in the years ahead.

Almost exactly six years ago, the Federal Reserve launched an unconventional program of buying bonds to rescue a faltering economy. Since then, the Fed's balance sheet has ballooned by $3.5 trillion, close to 25 percent on the nation's gross domestic product. As the central bank ends the...

I'm 71 and need to take a required minimum distribution from my former employer's 401(k) by the December 31 deadline. Do I have to calculate how much to withdraw, or will the plan do it for me and send me the money? If the plan does it, do I have a say in which investments to sell?

A few weeks ago, Pew Research released a report showing that a record number of today's young adults in their 20s and early 30s are unmarried. And if current trends continue, one in four will never get married.

Thanks to inflation, workers will be able to sock away more in retirement accounts next year and retirees will get a modest bump in Social Security benefits.

You may already know that homeowners insurance doesn't cover flood damage or sewage backup. But what about things your policy covers, but might not cover sufficiently?

Contributing money to a 401(k) or other retirement account is one of the first steps in securing your financial future. The next step is leaving the money in the account to grow.

Because interest rates are so low today, the extra income you get from high-yield, or "junk," bonds looks tempting. But before you buy in to junk, you should know what you're getting yourself into.

Dear Liz: I think I've been scammed, but my credit union has decided I'm simply forgetful. I noticed a debit to my checking account that I did not recognize from a merchant I cannot identify. The merchant name appears on my statement as simply "Portland Portland OR." My credit union can tell me...

Fall is a season of seasons. Football season, harvest season and pumpkin-spice deodorant season. This also is the season for pumpkin-spice lattes, pumpkin-spice shoelaces and everybody's annual favorite, pumpkin-spice toilet paper.

The lowest mortgage rates of the year sank a bit lower this week, with Freddie Mac reporting that lenders were offering 30-year fixed loans at an average of 3.92%, down from 3.97% a week ago.

I just moved for a new job and bought a new house, and I'd like to increase the amount of my life insurance. I have a $500,000 20-year term policy. How much would it cost to boost my coverage to $1 million?

It's National Estate Planning Week, which means it's time for me to nudge you to "do estate planning". I received great feedback when I published estate planning advice last year, soon after my father died. A year later, I have fine-tuned a few things, but must say emphatically that...

Strong global demand for Apple Inc's iPhone 6 will drive revenue growth through 2015, while updated models should help reverse three straight quarters of declining iPad sales, analysts said.

Seeking to reassure home lenders, the government's top overseer for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said the mortgage finance giants would ease their demands to be compensated for certain soured loans.

It's time for thoughts about college applications, which means students are filled with anxiety over whether they will get into their dream school, quickly followed by their (and their parents') panic over how they will pay for it. For those already in school, this is a time of sticker shock as...