Financial resolutions are as common as Champagne and confetti on New Year's Eve, and just as commonly forgotten after the holiday. But a new book, "Picture Your Prosperity: Smart Money Moves to Turn Your Vision into Reality" (Portfolio, $27.95) to be released in mid-January, offers...

Resolving to pick up better money habits in 2015? Probably not.

For years, Google Inc's commerce chief, Stephanie Tilenius, held a demanding job and helped oversee the medical care of her parents, an experience that led her to leave the Internet search giant in 2012 and start a company to help patients combat chronic disease. 

Dear Liz: My mother just turned 75 and wants to downsize from her four-bedroom house. My father passed away six years ago. She owns her home outright, and at the time of my father's death the value of the house was estimated at $1.2 million. Right now she has enough income from retirement...

The end of the year occasions awards season in all industries, and the world of personal finance is no exception, which brings us to the 2014 edition of the Piggy Bank Awards for Dubious Achievements in Consumer Finance or, for short, "The Piggies."

My family is thinking about setting up a donor-advised fund so all three generations can work together to decide which charities to support. How much money do we need to open up this kind of fund, and do we get a tax break for our contributions?

Ah, the holidays. The season of spirited tax avoidance and homey deductions, when thoughts naturally drift to capital-loss harvesting and full or partial Roth conversions.

As families come together for the holidays, the last thing anyone may be thinking is, "Gee, I should talk to my folks about their financial situation!" But with busy lives, these gatherings may be a good time to at least broach the topic and to schedule a future date to conduct the...

The law blocks Roth IRA contributions for singles whose modified adjusted gross income exceeds $131,000 in 2015 and for married couples whose MAGI exceeds $193,000. But there are ways to trim MAGI (for most taxpayers, MAGI and AGI are the same). The most effective is to participate in a...

Giving more while spending less sounds oxymoronic, but some seniors can do just that this year.

The holidays are usually not the time when you want to tackle money chores. But doing a little financial housekeeping could be the best gift you give yourself this year.

Dear Liz: My daughter is getting married in September. She recently confided that she and her fiance have never discussed their respective debts (if any), credit scores or financial goals. She is hesitant to bring this up with him but realizes it's a discussion that needs to happen before...

Graphic designer Jonathan Ng didn't worry much about his spending habits or his trouble finding a full-time job that came with employer-sponsored health insurance.

Before you shut down for the holidays, remember that just a few hours spent reviewing your financial life may help boost your bottom line -- and put a dent in your holiday shopping bills! Here are eight ideas to consider, which could minimize taxes before we ring in 2015.

Many of today's workers will have a hard time retiring at the traditional age while maintaining their standard of living.

Imagination Technologies, the British company that supplies graphics processing to Apple Inc, said it expected an improved second half as costly investments which weighed on the first months of the year begin to pay off.

First-time homebuyers now have more options when it comes to getting a mortgage with a low down payment. The only question is how many of those buyers — who tend to be young, often in their early 30s — will actually benefit from the loans.

Q: My wife and I retired in June and were covered by respective pension programs. Are we eligible to make a deductible individual retirement account contribution for tax year 2014 and make the appropriate tax deduction for that portion of the year we were retired? If so, how much?

There's no question that the U.S. is the engine of global economic growth. But that doesn't mean that investors (especially those with intestinal fortitude) can't find good buys abroad. Europe is fertile bargain-hunting ground. "The sell-off in Europe has been vicious," says Paul...

Dear Liz: I am working on paying my bad debt from the past to rebuild my scores. I have one credit card that I pay in full every month, but no installment loan. I recently was given the opportunity to take a car loan with monthly payments I could easily afford. Here is my confusion: Taking on...

Christmas is less than two weeks away and I bet most of you still haven't made your holiday budgets. If you're anything like me, it's an even safer bet that you also haven't thrown out your leftover Halloween candy corn, or mailed your Arbor Day thank-you notes.

With the kind of fanfare that only Apple can produce, Apple Pay has put contactless payments in the spotlight.

The online lending challenge to banks exploded on Thursday with the stock market debut of Lending Club Corp., a San Francisco company that harnesses the Internet to help investors provide personal loans to consumers.

Open enrollment is now underway, and it is a great opportunity to fix problems with your current policy or take advantage of new options available in your area.

With just weeks to go before the end of the year, here are five potential money-making/money saving retirement moves to consider.

Figuring out when to apply for Social Security isn't as complicated as unraveling the human genome -- it just seems that way. There are numerous strategies that, used to maximum advantage, could increase your lifetime benefits by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I ran into an old acquaintance recently outside a coffee shop with his two adorable young children. Both he and his wife work part-time, freelance schedules, leaving the whole family of four free to wander downtown Manhattan on a beautiful Friday. Their conversation centered on the benefits...

Even as growth slows worldwide and Europe struggles to stay out of recession, the U.S. economy will gain momentum in 2015. Kiplinger expects the economy to grow 3 percent or better in 2015. That's the best annual growth rate since 2005.

In the realm of fixed-income investments, dethroned Pimco bond king Bill Gross still commands a healthy measure of respect as he settles in at a freewheeling Janus Capital mutual fund. 

For recent retirees, adjusting to life on a fixed income can be particularly difficult at holiday time.

I have catastrophic news for American society: Teenagers are becoming less lonely.

Electronics retailer RadioShack Corp will stop matching employees' retirement-fund contributions and review health benefits to help cut costs, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing an internal memo.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to 3.89%, an 18-month low, from 3.97% last week, according to Freddie Mac's survey of lenders.

The crockpot isn't the only time-saving gadget out there. Sure, it's a great one, but there are so many others that'll slice minutes off your nightly dinner-making routine, which will leave more time for relaxing around the dinner table. Witness these picks:

During the holiday season, charities step up their year-end appeals to raise money. While it's wonderful to support these organizations, it's important to guard against potential scams, especially if you get a request from an unfamiliar group.

Senior editor Anne Kates Smith interviews Alan Krueger, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and the author of Explorations in Economics, a high school textbook with lessons for adults as well as students.

We've officially entered the Holiday Shopping Season, that special time of year the Christmas-Industrial Complex has been building to since Father's Day. Despite the long national nightmare of the "War on Christmas," we now have extended the holiday season to the point where it's best...

Dear Liz: We've had three cases of credit card fraud. Each time, the credit card company issued new cards with new numbers and canceled the old ones (along with the fraudulent charges). We had nine monthly auto-payment authorizations set up, and we seethed at the fact that the card company...

I was recently on a panel in Lexington, Ky., that was asked to offer financial advice to a live audience. The first person up to the microphone described her problem: Her 24-year-old son was still at home, and she hadn't been able to dislodge him.

Thanksgiving is a time when we can give thanks for all of the blessings in our lives, like health, loving spouse, a wonderful family and amazing friends. But this is a money column, so this week, I would also like to give thanks to all of the amazing people and resources that have improved...

A growing number of couples are planning to retire separately. For some, job loss or disability has forced the decision; for others, age disparity (men are three years older than their wives, on average) has played a role. The closing gap in earning power is another factor, says Richard...

The federal regulator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will now allow certain foreclosed borrowers to buy back the homes they lost — so long as they pay the full current value of the property.

It's that time of year when lots of charities are on the corner ringing their bells and asking you to open your wallet. As our nation climbs slowly out of recession, 2014 is expected by some observers to set new records for charitable donations.

As the clock ticks down to the end of the year, fund-raisers are out in force. In the spirit of the season, and with an eye toward trimming your tax bill, you may be swayed to open your wallet -- a sentiment we encourage. But if your largesse leaves you with no real sense that you've made an...

In the realm of mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, California tends to fall into two categories -- high-cost counties where eligible single-family home loans can't be higher than $625,500 (Los Angeles, Orange) or those with the standard limit of $417,000 limit (Riverside, San...

Pre-Medicare retirees need to lock in new individual health insurance under the Affordable Care Act by Dec. 15 for coverage starting at the beginning of the year, but rushing into a new plan could be costly, experts say.

Dear Liz: My partner of 30 years recently died. Am I eligible for Social Security survivor benefits? I don't want anything I don't deserve, but if I'm entitled to something, every penny would be appreciated. I am 54 and make minimum wage.

"You should write about college aid and the FAFSA," my brother said.

Some college students call home when they need extra cash. The same might happen after graduation, when student loans start coming due.