3 Major Charity Scam Red Flags You’ve probably already received several letters and phone calls from charities asking for donations. Most requests are from legitimate organizations. Some, however, are bogus charities set up by con artists who use the holiday spirit to their financial advantage. Last year, Americans gave nearly $428 billion to charities, according…

Save More This Shopping Season This winter, the NPD Group’s 2019 Holiday Purchase Intentions Survey is reporting that Americans plan to spend an average of $740 on holiday shopping — a 7% increase since last year. The survey also found that more people started their shopping earlier than last year (even before Black Friday!). So…

Time for a Yearly Credit Report One way to head off fraud during tax season is to get your free annual credit report now. Credit reports often have errors in them; this quick checkup can be the first indication that some form of identity theft has taken place on your account. The good news is…

According to a recent Deloitte survey, 91 percent of people agree to terms and conditions without reading the legal agreement. While reading through the legally complex language may be slow and painful, it’s more important than you think. Here are four reasons why reading entire legal agreements make sense:   You miss a major technicality. Many…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently reported in financial exploitation cases that older adults lost an average of $34,200. Unfortunately, these funds are often never recovered. You can ensure this doesn’t happen by learning more about scams and how to protect yourself. Here are some tips:   Recognize the scams.The best way to protect yourself…

If you have employees, you know how important health insurance is for your benefits package. It also takes a big bite out of your budget. Selecting the right insurance for your company is extremely important for employee retention and maintaining your bottom line. Here are tips to help you find the best health insurance for…

A letter in the mailbox with the IRS as the return address is sure to raise your blood pressure. Here are some tips for handling the situation if this happens to you: Stay calm. Try not to overreact to the correspondence. They are often in error. This is easier said than done, but remember the IRS…

The keys to successful digital marketing practices are often learned through failure. But this doesn’t have to be you! The wise business owner learns from the travails experienced by others. Here are some digital marketing mistakes to know so you can keep them from unraveling your strategy: Overlooking directory listings.Now more than ever, people turn…

Going on vacation is a time to get away, relax and enjoy new experiences. But if you don’t pay close attention, extra costs can sneak up on you like tiny money-stealing ninjas. Here are seven sneaky vacation costs to watch out for: Covert airfare increases. Airline pricing algorithms are programmed to store your browsing history to…

What you can do to help   Tax laws severely limit who can deduct losses on their tax return caused by a catastrophic event. Now unless a loss is in a presidentially declared disaster area, victims are on their own to pick up the pieces. This is creating problems for those on the fringe of…