While it may be prudent to use a financial professional when you start your investment journey, there are a lot of things you can do before you ever speak to a financial professional. Investing, like everything else in life, has no guarantees, and even the hottest stock or the best tip may not always perform the way we would like.

If you’ve just begun your career and started collecting a decent paycheck, retirement probably feels like it’s lightyears away. But it will get here quicker than you expect, and when it does, you’ll want to be prepared.

It’s believed that retirement planning as we currently know it didn’t really exist until a few decades ago. Up to that point, people worked until 65 and then sailed into retirement on a pension plan.

Donating to charities is a win-win when filing taxes. You get to help a cause you care about and can claim dedications on cash contributions. But what happens when the charity you’ve given to is fraudulent? You’ve now donated to a false entity, haven’t helped the cause, and cannot write it off on your taxes.

Unlike the summer family reunion and work meetings, you can always count on a few specific dates every year. Days like birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and Tax Day. But even if April 18th is hardwired into your brain and calendar, sometimes it makes more sense to file for an extension instead of the tax deadline.

If you have a child graduating from high school or college and entering the workforce, they may have the opportunity to open up a 401(k) through their new employer. In some cases, that employer will also offer matching contribution funds up to a certain percentage.

Managing your personal finances can sometimes seem like an overwhelming task. But you can start the process with a few easy steps that will help you take control of your finances and work toward a brighter financial future.

You can begin organizing your finances by laying out your priorities, tracking your spending, and determining your net worth.

Saving money when planning a trip - the dos, the don’ts.

Imagine coming home refreshed from a wonderful vacation, made even more satisfying because you saved 20%-30% on its cost. That can happen. With a little planning, a trip can become notably cheaper.

When people warn you that having kids is expensive, it’s no joke. From diapers to food, braces to sports activities the costs add up quick. For a middle-income family in the U.S. raising a child up until age 18, costs an estimated average of $245,340 (or $304,480, adjusted for projected inflation), according to the 2013 “Cost of Raising a Child” report from the U.S.