Kiplinger's Personal Finance
GREAT TRIPS FOR SOLO TRAVELERS
Planning a vacation for one? From mountain treks to wellness retreats, you can find a getaway that suits your style—and that builds in some companionship, too.
10 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
HOW TO LOWER YOUR TAX BILL
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act brought a host of changes that could affect your 2025 tax return. We'll show you how to make the most of them and get other breaks that reduce what you owe-or maximize your refund.
10+ min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
MAKE LEARNING A LIFELONG AFFAIR
GOING back to live on a college campus, taking classes, and mixing and mingling with students young enough to be their grandchildren wasn't originally on Anna and Jeffry Young's retirement bingo card. Yet that's their life these days.
10+ min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Cleaning Up the Paper Clutter
Once you hit retirement, keeping tax returns from decades ago can become unwieldy.
3 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
NAVIGATING MEDICARE ENROLLMENT
Failing to sign up on time can be a costly mistake.
2 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Focus on Income First
EVERY reader knows I am unfazed at the sacrifice of a percentage point or two of share price or net asset value to secure a higher yield or cash distribution. That underscores my reverence for short-term high-yield bonds, packaged car leases and credit card bills, floating-rate corporate bank loans, and the many multisector and flexible exchange-traded and closed-end funds that own these assets or some of each. These investments reliably distribute upward of 5% and sometimes 7%. Add funds or ETFs that write options on stocks or stock indexes to pay out 8% or more, and you might easily overlook how the Federal Reserve has slashed the interest rate it controls to 3.5%—the low since September 2022—with further cuts to follow this year.
2 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
EASING THE SQUEEZE ON AFFORDABILITY
A 50-year mortgage probably isn't the answer, but there are other ways to alleviate the continuing sting of high prices.
3 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Health Care Stocks: Bet on a Recovery
The flagging sector has perked up a bit lately.
7 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
The Merger Market Heats Up
Investing in takeover deals can be a low-volatility way to diversify your portfolio.
2 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
2026 MUTUAL FUND GUIDE
A banner year for stocks created winners the world over, in companies of all sizes. The top funds in 11 categories crushed the averages.
9 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
In Search of Almost-Safe Stocks
IS there really such a thing as a safe stock? When you buy a share, you own a tiny piece of a business, and any business can develop problems no one suspects. Consider Enron, a consistent moneymaker in energy trading, which went from $90 a share to 26 cents in a little over a year. Or Sears, once a solid retail giant and now reduced to just a handful of stores. Eastman Kodak, Polaroid and Blockbuster were all solid citizens that went bankrupt.
4 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
RESOLVE CONFLICTS WITH YOUR ADVISER
Knowing how to deal with a disagreement can improve both your finances and your relationship with your planner.
3 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
NEW WAYS TO KEEP ONLINE ACCOUNTS SAFE
As cybercrime evolves, the strategies you use to protect yourself need to evolve, too.
4 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
WHY FIDO SHOULD BE IN YOUR ESTATE PLAN
Including your wishes in your will or in a pet trust can ensure proper care when you can't provide it.
2 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
A FORECAST FOR THE MONTHS AHEAD
The experts at The Kiplinger Letter, which publishes weekly business and economic forecasts, recently shared their predictions for the economy, politics, new technologies and more throughout 2026. Here are some of their expectations.
2 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Longevity Advice for Women
IN recent columns, I have written about longevity literacy and the need for long-term-care planning (see “Living in Retirement,” Dec. 2025 and Feb. 2026). To see how women fit into this picture, I interviewed Maddy Dychtwald, cofounder of AgeWave, a research and consulting firm focused on aging, and author of Ageless Aging: A Woman’s Guide to Increasing Healthspan, Brainspan and Lifespan. Dychtwald interviewed dozens of researchers, scientists and physicians for her book, and these are some of her key takeaways.
2 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
THE LIFE CYCLE OF A BOND
Your bond portfolio's return depends on everything from interest rate swings to defaults. Here's what to watch for.
5 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Trim Your Child-Care Costs
Working parents can take advantage of tax breaks and local assistance programs.
5 min |
March 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Volunteering to Help Others at Tax Time
Through an IRS program, qualifying individuals can get free assistance with their tax returns.
2 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Look Beyond the Tech Giants
I am hooked on a podcast called Acquired, in which two smart guys do a deep analytical dive, typically lasting three or four hours, on a single successful company such as Coca-Cola or Trader Joe's. Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, a pair of venture capitalists, are especially adept at explaining what's behind the success of such tech giants as Alphabet (symbol GOOGL, $320), the former Google, which recently merited 11 hours and 42 minutes of dialogue all by itself.
4 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Your Questions, My Thoughts
Fixed-income markets remain in a tight price and yield range, dividend stocks are steady, and real estate investment trusts are calm. Although oil prices are low, energy funds and partnerships maintain ample payouts. So, I have nothing actionable to say about the big picture, mindful that conditions can change in a flash.
2 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
THE IRS IS ENDING A FREE TAX-FILING PROGRAM
Taxpayers in search of ways to prepare their federal tax return for free will have one less option during the 2026 filing season.
2 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
7 WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON ALMOST EVERYTHING
High prices got you down? These strategies can help you reap deep discounts on everyday spending.
9 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Smart Ways to Share a Credit Card
Adding an authorized user has its benefits, but make sure you set the ground rules.
2 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
WHEN THE MARKET IS ALWAYS OPEN
Are you a night owl or an early bird with a yen for active trading? Before you transact after-hours, consider these tips and potential traps.
4 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
IS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE RIGHT FOR YOU?
With this model, you pay a membership fee for more personalized medical services.
2 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
How to Pay for Long-Term Care
A couple of months ago, I wrote that many Americans significantly underestimate how long they could live in retirement (see “Living in Retirement,” Dec.). With the possibility of a 30-year retirement becoming more common, retirees need to plan for so-called longevity risk to make sure their assets last a lifetime. And the longer you live, the more likely you'll need to pay for some form of long-term care. That can range from assistance with activities of daily living to in-home care to a nursing home stay.
2 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
CATCH-UP SAVERS FACE A TAXING 401(K) CHANGE
Under new rules, you may lose an up-front deduction but gain tax-free income once you retire.
2 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
WHERE TO STASH CASH AS YIELDS FALL
Your best options depend on how soon you'll need the money and your tolerance for risk.
4 min |
February 2026
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
MANAGING MONEY TOGETHER— FOR BETTER, NOT WORSE
The key to financial harmony, even for long-married couples, lies in mastering the art of compromise.
2 min |