Save your sanity and your money during the holidays with these five frugal tips:
1. Make a list. If you think Santa does it only to keep track of the naughty and the nice, guess again. When you have a list of those you need to buy for and what you want to get them, you [...]

When dealing with a volatile market, sometimes the most difficult challenge is to manage your emotions. If you decide you need to re-examine your game plan, it should be done with as much care as you put into developing that plan in the first place. Your financial professional may be able to help you decide [...]

After December 31, 2011, paper savings bonds will no longer be sold at any financial institution, including Johnson Bank. Instead, electronic savings bonds can be purchased online through TreasuryDirect. Existing paper bonds are still valid and will earn interest for 30 years from the issue date or until redeemed. You can continue to cash savings [...]

Few people in the market for a new car have the means to buy it outright. According to a recent study by Kelly Blue Book, 66% of car buyers plan to finance their new ride with a loan. Yet, financing is often treated as an afterthought.
With the average auto loan around $26,000, this can be [...]

Many people are well informed about the risk of identity theft, and take steps to thwart it. They install virus protection on their computers, shred important papers, refuse to disclose private information, and receive electronic statements to keep financial paperwork out of their mailbox. However, they may still be vulnerable to a new type of [...]

Armchair and professional counselors alike will tell you that one of the most common reasons couples fight is money. Is that because, like oil and water or cats and dogs, spenders and savers just don’t mix? Or because, with money styles ingrained in us by our parents, questioning our way of doing things is an [...]

Instability seems to be the only thing that’s consistent in the world right now. With political in‐fighting over the debt ceiling, the downgrade in America’s credit rating, talk of a double­‐dip recession, continued high unemployment, rising gas and food prices, record-setting drops in the market and rioting overseas, its understandable that people spent the last [...]

An apartment fire can be a disasterous loss. Even if only one unit is destroyed by flames, the resulting smoke and water damage to neighboring units can cause similarly cataclysmic losses throughout the rest of the building.

For most parents, paying for a child’s college or graduate school education is a major event. For some parents, it rivals only the purchase of a home in number of dollars spent. As the cost of college continues to rise, it’s little wonder that parents view their ability to pay college costs with some apprehension. [...]

Women face special challenges when planning for retirement. Because their careers are often interrupted to care for children or elderly parents, women may spend less time in the workforce and earn less money than men in the same age group.