Running a household requires careful planning and preparation for a wide range of potential problems. An emergency fund (rainy day jar) is a way that individuals can demonstrate prudence in acknowledging that while no one can predict when something bad will happen, chances are high that something bad will happen at sometime in all of our lives. How big is your emergency fund?

While the economy has pretty much recovered from the economic scare of 2008, it doesn’t appear as if Americans have yet. In recent years, over 700,000 new jobs have entered the workforce, but have Americans begun spending that hard-earned money they are making? No, not yet, and it’s hard to tell when they will start.

Regulators are continuously searching for safer methods to protect consumers. Whether decisions are made to provide additional disclosures or to enforce certain rules for negligent credit practices, consumers are the ultimate beneficiaries of enhanced oversight. New credit reporting changes that are due to take effect should provide greater opportunities for consumers to address various credit-base discrepancies. Many of the new credit sharing procedures involve the collection and the reporting of a consumer’s account information.

Today’s economy makes it seem nearly impossible to function without some sort of debt. From car loans to credit cards and even house payments, all of the niceties of life come at a cost, and society suggests paying for those things over time not upfront.

One of the greatest changes in the world over the past twenty to thirty years is the internet. Not only has the internet essentially transformed the value of information, but it has also transformed how everyone approaches common tasks that were more complicated years ago. One of the areas that has undergone the most dramatic change is the field of banking. In years past, knowing your local bank and the people that worked there was one of the things you simply just did as an adult.