Surveys have shown that money is one of the main causes of stress. The recession increased money woes for many of us — playing up our fears of joblessness or putting more pressure on us to make ends meet on a smaller budget. Although those in their twenties are known to struggle with uncertainty, personal finance is something that the younger generation can immediately start to take control of. Read more

Build up your emergency fund with these tips from Kiplinger. You know you need an emergency fund — easily accessible cash to pay for unexpected expenses. Without one, you could find yourself looking around the house for valuables to pawn, racking up credit-card debt or maybe even considering a payday loan to cover the costs of an emergency. But you may be wondering how you can find enough Read more

We all face different money issues at every life stage, so figure out what you need to save for with this helpful Wise Bread guide. The recession has pushed almost all of us, regardless of age, a decade behind in building personal wealth. Don’t beat yourself up if you’re in your 20s and haven’t paid off student loans, or in your late 30s or early 40s and still paying off debt or saving up Read more

LearnVest talks about a new way to get your student loans: from the school's alumni. It’s the newest thing in student loans: a social lending service where alumni can help finance the education of current students. SoFi, a service brought to our attention by Mashable, lets alumni “buy a share” of the students at a school who currently have loans. As the students pay off the loans, the Read more

Does the topic of retirement make you scratch your head? LearnVest breaks it down for you in simple terms. You know what’s awesome? Retirement. No, really. Imagine it: Waking up every day to head to your favorite yoga/art/synchronized swimming class. Catching up with friends daily. Starting (and finishing) every book or movie that catches your eye. It’s the ultimate extended vacation, and Read more

While we'd like to blame the economy, Generation Y — often called the Boomerang Generation of Americans born in the '80s and '90s — have earned that snide title for their inability to land jobs after college and for commonly moving back in with the folks several years after graduation. In an effort to move away from this common trend, here's a list of goals and a realistic time line to help Read more

Learn how to be a better contributor to your office brainstorming sessions with these tips from LearnVest. When was the last time you brainstormed? Was it over a group assignment in high school? Maybe over a particularly challenging DIY project? Or was it this week, at work? Brainstorming is a tried-and-true way many managers encourage their employees to generate ideas. The goal is to get people Read more

Do the different retirement terms overwhelm you? Our friends at LearnVest explain the difference between an IRA and a 401(k) in simple terms. What’s on your mind today? We ask because we’re thinking of something specific: retirement. No, no, don’t go! Retirement, once you think about it, is pretty awesome. Once you’re retired, you don’t have to get up with an alarm, brave the commuter Read more

Christopher Plummer has been on fire this award season, and he earned another trophy for his collection at the Spirit Awards. Back in the press room, Plummer talked about how his character in Beginners resonated with him, why the Von Trapp name is still following him around, and how he really feels about that ubiquitous Jack Russell terrier from The Artist. On if winning the Spirit Award gives Read more

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy! The IRS audits only slightly more than 1% of all individual tax returns annually. The agency doesn't have enough personnel and resources to examine each and every tax return filed during a year. So the odds are pretty low that your return will be picked for review. And, of course, the only reason filers should worry about an Read more