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By ROBIN SIDEL A new federal credit-card law that takes effect Monday could erase billions of dollars a year in fees and interest charges paid by consumers. But card issuers are already deploying new tactics that could prove costly for even the most cautious cardholder. The law made ...Read More

How much gold is there in those Olympic medals? What are they worth? And now that gold has boomed to more than $1,100 an ounce, should athletes forgo framing the thing and just, um, you know…melt it down the moment they get the medal home? Go on, admit ...Read More

Greece’s Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou wants other eurozone nations to release a detailed plan of how they will bail-out his country. Mr Papaconstantinou said such a move was necessary to ease market fears that Greece could default on its debts. His comments follow after eurozone leaders pledged last ...Read More

Investors want to minimize volatility and to maximize certainty, and the prices that the market assigns to various securities incorporate the consistency with which the underlying company can be counted on to perform well. Steady performance produces superior returns. Portfolio manager Richard Moroney, who’s also editor of the ...Read More

For many investors, the market’s turbulence hasn’t just destroyed wealth. It has shattered their faith in the financial system itself. Consider Philip Eberlin, 56 years old, who runs a woodwork-restoration business in Chicago Heights, Ill. Trading hot stocks a decade ago, Mr. Eberlin got burned on picks like ...Read More

By ANNA PRIOR Preparing and filing a tax return can be a daunting task, especially if you’ve never done it before. But is it worth forking over a couple hundred dollars to have a tax pro do it for you? Probably not, if you’re single, renting, have one ...Read More

When our then-22-year-old daughter told us in the fall of 2008 that she intended to move out of our house and live in New York City on her own, we told her it would be tough. She didn’t believe us. Mariana proved us wrong. She not only lived ...Read More

Time To Own Intel Microchip maker Intel ( INTC - news - people ) said late Thursday that its first-quarter profit jumped significantly from last year, when results were hurt by a big one-time write-down. Article Controls forbes:http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/15/intel-earnings-beat-personal-finance-investing-ideas-jpmorgan-chase.html?partner=yahoobuzz The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company reported fiscal first quarter net ...Read More

By ANNE TERGESEN Rules for enrolling in Medicare are complex. But when people postpone retirement past age 65, as many people are doing these days, it’s easy to get caught up in red tape. Older adults can’t get into Medicare any time they want. The easiest time to ...Read More

By KAREN BLUMENTHAL Still mulling over your New Year’s financial resolutions? David Laibson, a Harvard University economics professor, has one for you—one that many of us may wish we’d made last year. “Promise that you’ll never try to time the market again,” he suggests, a not-too-subtle gibe at ...Read More