financial planning

In financial planning, people usually play offense: It's about finding the right strategy to get to the goal. But it's just as crucial to have a good defense. Cal Brown, a financial planner and author of the new book When Life Strikes: Weathering Financial Storms, shares some of his defensive plays with DailyFinance's Laura Rowley.

When you get deep into credit card debt, it can feel like you've been through a financial storm. That's the story for a social worker named Heather, who has $30,000 in credit card debt. DailyFinance's Laura Rowley looks at key steps to clear the debris from her path to a brighter financial future.

Financial planner Thomas Corey has a new book revealing the most affordable places to retire in 2012, highlighting cities and towns that also offer lifestyle benefits. He unveils the winners for DailyFinance's Laura Rowley.

So your resident college student is knee-deep in student loans, tuition, fees and rent payments. But infusing her bank account will sap the funds you have earmarked for your retirement. What's a concerned parent to do? Help her start building up some savings of her own. Here's how:

When it comes to managing financial matters, you can't go wrong by hoping for the best but planning for the worst. In other words, underpromise and overdeliver. What does that look like in real life? Read on for some figures and calculations that point the way towards prudent retirement planning.

In 2001, Nicole B. Simpson was just another Morgan Stanley financial planner on the 73rd floor when the 9/11 attacks struck. She survived, but the emotional trauma left her old life in the wreckage. Eventually, though, she found a new purpose in helping others through traumas of their own.

Even if you've saved enough to live comfortably, the golden years don't buy you a reprieve from money worries. In fact, being retired can make you even more vulnerable to fiscal strife, if you're not prepared. Consider Tom Binns, who retired after a lifetime of savings, only to find that financial responsibilities didn't end with his 9-to-5.

An estimated two-thirds of baby boomer households will receive an inheritance at some point, with a median amount of $64,000, according to an AARP study. I recently received an email from a reader who has fallen deeply into debt in anticipation of her legacy -- and is now worried that her bailout may not be at hand.

After last week's latest nauseating bout of volatility, here are several thoughtful strategies to help get the average investor through the storm.

With little in the way of financial education in schools, most of us don't learn how to save and spend wisely until we're out on our own -- and then the process can be a painful one of trial and error. Here's one person's plan to start her daughters early on the path towards financial fluency.