When Elizabeth McMeekin went shopping for a new credit card, she wasn’t looking for the best interest rate or no-interest balance transfers. Rather, she wanted to promote her social values through her spending, so she signed up for a credit card from ShoreBank Pacific, a community development bank with an environmental focus.The card’s interest rate […]

A review of some of the latest articles on money and retirement is available in today’s New York Times in the column “What’s Offline,” a weekly feature on the best in magazine publishing.
This week’s column, headlined, “Retirement Made Easy, Sort of,”  takes a look at the investment community’s changing view of retirement.
Financial Planning magazine reports that the financial […]

I began to riffle the pages of Rule #1 (Crown; $25.00) while meandering through a bookstore, and before I looked up, I had read two chapters. I was hooked by Town’s friendly style and his commonsense approach to stock market investment. Now, having finished the book, I continue to be impressed – with […]

Need a little help managing that 401 (k) account? If you’re overwhelmed, you’re not alone. After all, most of us aren’t Wall Street geniuses.
Now, employers and the financial services giants are gearing up to provide guidance–incented by provisions of legislation signed by President Bush earlier this month revamping the nation’s pension laws.
Self-management of retirement portfolios […]

There are dozens of books such as this one in bookstores, and if I could only recommend one it would have to be Andrew Tobias’ The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need, which was originally published in 1977 and has been regularly updated since then. However, that would not be fair to Julie […]

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College is trying to better educate women about career, money and retirement issues through a game it’s created on its Website.
The game, called, “Get Rich Slow,” teaches lessons about finance, savings and retirement in a fun, easy way. Women can follow a path through life that shows the consequences […]

Want to retire early without having to take a job just for the health insurance? Or are you self-employed and wondering how you’ll cover your growing medical needs? More people, particularly the affluent, are building their own bridges from early retirement to Medicare with health savings accounts (HSAs). Overall, Americans have poured about $1 billion […]

Turns out video games aren’t all car jackings and shootings.
Nintendo’s latest games are designed to exercise the brain.
Brain Age (launched April 17) includes brain-training exercises like word memorization, counting, reading and Sudoko while its successor Big Brain Academy (launched May 30) include 15 exercises testing logic, memory, math and analysis. Complete the tasks (each lasts […]