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According to the AARP, Americans donated more than $470 billion to charity in 2020. Charity fraud is a type of imposter scam, the No. 1 source of fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission. Fake charities try to take advantage of your generosity and compassion for others in need.

Digital banking has come a long way in recent years, and now it can offer many ways for you to stay on top of your business needs.

The Keystone State ranked 29th in reported identity theft per 100,000 residents that year with nearly 34,000 Pennsylvanians claiming to be victims of the crime, according to the FTC. So, what can you do to reduce the risk of becoming a victim?

Just remember that there is no legitimate reason for anyone to pay more than the accepted price. Never agree to forward money to someone you don’t know on behalf of a “buyer.” Even if the funds are real, you could be implicated in money laundering.

In 2019, Congress revisited the rules for qualified retirement plans and IRAs, with an eye toward boosting retirement savings. To that end, the age limit of 70½ for making a contribution to a traditional, deductible IRA was eliminated. However, one still must have “earned” income to make any IRA contribution – income from investments, pensions, gifts, and Social Security benefits does not count. 

As a small-business owner, you want to make a workplace retirement plan available to your employees. But you know you don’t have the time or technical background to handle 401(k) administration. So, what do you do?

Thanks to the Internet and YouTube, doing it yourself has taken on a new life. For example, a young person we know was able to diagnose a problem with his clothes dryer, then order the key part and install it, thus saving the cost of an in-home repair. Information that once might have been hard to find outside of specialized publications has become accessible to everyone. But there are limits to self-empowerment. One area in which some people may be overconfident is financial management. There is more to financial planning than setting some goals and pinching some pennies.

Scammers have preferred methods of payments. Among the most popular are gift cards – perfect for non-refundable, nearly-impossible-to-trace fraud. According to a December report from the Federal Trade Commission, nearly 40,000 consumers reported losing $148 million in gift card scams during the first nine months of 2021. That’s more than what was reported in all of 2020. The number is even more surprising when it’s estimated that 95% of victims don’t even report the fraud.

Every day, thousands of people fall victim to fraudulent emails, texts, and calls from scammers pretending to be their bank. Add to that the expanded use of online banking and the problem is only growing worse.

Once again, it is time to roll out the much-anticipated Super Bowl Stock Market Forecast. As some of you may remember, Robert Stovall, an equity analyst for EF Hutton, published a bizarre statistical anomaly in the mid-1970s. He found that in years where an original NFL franchise won the Super Bowl, the stock market would go up.

There are many ways to save for your retirement, and the time-tested 401(k) is one of the most popular. The retirement account, however, is still underutilized. A whopping 59% of employed Americans have access to a 401(k), and yet only 32% are investing in one.

If you’re in debt — even a little bit — don’t worry, because you’re not alone. More than 80% of Americans are in debt, some with small and manageable debts, and some with debts that loom over them like a storm cloud.

Name an emergency situation with a relatively large price tag. If you answered roof repair or replacement (or any major home repair), a new transmission for your car, emergency medical expenses not covered by insurance, or living expenses after a job loss, you have a good understanding of what an emergency fund can be used for — and how important it is to have one.

Your identity is a valuable piece of information. In the right hands (yours), it can be used to open a bank account, obtain a credit card, or apply for insurance benefits. In the wrong hands, it can do all of those things, and more.

President Biden’s ambitious American Families Plan is billed as “an investment in our kids, our families, and our economic future.” That investment comes to life in the form of programs designed to help families cover the basic expenses with which so many struggle, lowering health insurance premiums, and continuing the American Rescue Plan’s historic reductions in child poverty.