Retirement is often portrayed in media as a two-ticket luxury cruise — a couple walking hand in hand on a beach, finally enjoying the fruits of their shared labor. But what if you are approaching the finish line alone? Whether through divorce, widowhood or having always been single, retiring solo is a fundamentally different financial … Read more

If you’re panicking because Valentine’s Day is nearly here and your bank account is looking a little thin, take a breath. You don’t need to drop $200 on a prix-fixe dinner or $90 on a bouquet of roses that’ll be dead in days. The National Retail Federation says the average person is expected to shell … Read more

I spent months testing every “play games for money” app I could find. Most were complete garbage. Some paid pennies for hours of grinding. A few were outright scams that never let you cash out. But I found 4 apps that actually paid real money—no deposit required. Not life-changing income, but legitimate cash that hit … Read more

Ready to make some extra money? 44 Million Americans are doing a side hustle — and maybe you should, too. This was made clear by a recent Bankrate report and are you even surprised? If you are trying to figure out how to make extra money in addition to working a full-time job (and who … Read more

Americans heading into retirement are facing a hefty gap between what they have saved and what they believe they need — a difference that has ballooned by roughly half a million dollars. Recent research from Clever Real Estate suggests retirees now estimate they need an average of $823,800 in savings and investments to retire comfortably … Read more

Stepping into a grocery store today feels like an exercise in budget defense these days. With food costs remaining a primary concern for most households, many shoppers have performed a quiet revolution in their carts, swapping out expensive name brands for generic or store-brand alternatives. For staples like salt, sugar, or flour, the savings provided … Read more

March and April are historically dangerous months for your travel budget. Airlines and hotels, anticipating the rush, artificially inflate prices in hotspots like Orlando, Cancun and Phoenix. If you follow the herds, you pay a premium to stand in line behind college students on spring break. The smart financial move is to pivot— shifting your … Read more

You find a hotel room for $149 a night, but by the time you click “Book,” taxes and a mysterious “Resort Fee” have inflated the total to $225. This is often called drip pricing — a tactic where the advertised price is stripped of mandatory fees to look artificially low. While the Federal Trade Commission … Read more

Scientists have known for years that the trillions of microscopic residents in human digestive tracts have a major say in overall health. But until recently, they didn’t know how bacteria were delivering the message. According to a recent study published in the scientific journal Nature, researchers have identified a molecular pathway that allows gut bacteria … Read more