Insurance

During more than two decades of helping people learn to manage their money, Jean Chatzky has picked up a host of financial maxims that she falls back on over and over again. Why? Because they make sense. They're funny. They're memorable. And they work.

In 2011, the average American wedding cost $26,501. With that kind of money on the line, and considering all the unforeseeable circumstances that could wreck your carefully laid plans, it's no surprise that a growing number of companies are offering wedding insurance.

While the pundits debated the vices and virtues of Mitt Romney's and Newt Gingrich's tax returns, the folks at Kiplinger were scouring them for ideas that could help you. Even if you'll never have a Swiss bank account or own complex foreign assets, these dozen moves could help you lower your IRS bill.

There are many roads to financial security, but whatever path you follow, there are some mandatory steps everyone ought to take along the way. Alexa von Tobel, founder of LearnVest.com, cuts through the thicket of advice to give us her essential keys to sound money management.

Every January, we plan to make changes, and we often don't succeed. Let's make this New Year's different: Here are seven fairly simple resolutions recommended by the financial experts for getting you on a firmer fiscal footing in 2012.

The woes Social Security faces have generated plenty of worried talk lately, but even if nothing changes, it'll be solvent until 2036. But Medicare, the other major government program that retirees rely on, is on course for financial disaster years sooner. That program, of course, is Medicare, and the funding situation for the portion of its benefits that retirees receive looks even scarier than Social Security's prospects right now.

If a car tops your teen's holiday gift wish-list, give as much consideration to insurance as you do the car's make and model and the debate over whether to buy new or used. And brace yourself for insurance premium sticker shock. Here are some ways you can mitigate the cost of insuring your teen driver.

Here's yet another reason to watch what you say and do online: Insurance companies are already surfing social media sites to get the scoop about their customers, and what their data-miners find may soon be compiled into a new way to rate you as a risk: a social networking score.

When most of us buy life insurance, we're thinking about one thing: Making sure our families are taken care of after we're gone. But in this season of giving, you might also want to think about setting up a policy to take care of your favorite charity.

Amid all the good cheer, the holiday season hides a sobering number of financial pitfalls -- and not just ones that involve overspending. Here's a look at seven dangers you might not have considered, along with steps you can take to make sure your holidays are more happy than hazardous.