Personal Finance

Sadly, most of us know someone who has been a victim of a crime, or we may have been ourselves a target. During this year's annual observances of National Crime Victims' Rights Week (April 2-8), FINRA is sharing some steps you can take to help recover from the emotional and financial aftershocks of investment fraud if you or someone you know lost money in a scam.

T+2 isn’t a sci-fi thriller, but it does look to the future. T+2 refers to a new, and shorter, standard settlement cycle for securities transactions. Currently, most securities transactions are settled in three business days, commonly referred to as T+3. Broker-dealers are required to comply with the amended rule beginning September 5, 2017.

If you turned age 70½ during 2016, the IRS wants to remind you that in most cases you must start taking required minimum distributions from your Individual Retirement Accounts and workplace retirement plans by Saturday, April 1, 2017.

FINRA is issuing this alert to warn anyone involved in binary options trading—specifically through unregistered non-U.S. companies offering binary options trading platforms or services—to be on guard for potential follow-up frauds.

If you own bonds or have money in a bond fund, there is a number you should know. It is called duration. Although stated in years, duration is not simply a measure of time. Instead, duration signals how much the price of your bond investment is likely to fluctuate when there is an up or down movement in interest rates. The higher the duration number, the more sensitive your bond investment will be to changes in interest rates.

February 27 – March 4 is America Saves Week and Military Saves Week, a time when the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) joins forces with participating organizations and military installations to encourage Americans, including service members and their families, to take action to save money.

All mutual funds charge fees. Because small percentage differences can add up to a big dollar difference in the returns on your mutual funds, it's important to be aware of all the fees associated with any fund you invest in.

If you’re going to day trade—and it’s very risky to do so—you must abide by the rules, particularly those that deal with margin. If a brokerage firm designates you as a “pattern day trader,” then FINRA margin rules require that broker-dealer to impose special margin requirements on your day-trading account.

In the movie "Groundhog Day," a small-town weatherman is fated to relive over and over again a day he would just as soon forget. Unlike the film, which ends happily, some of us wake up and find ourselves repeating the same financial mistakes time and again, with no happy ending in sight. Here are four common financial mistakes many of us make—but we don't have to repeat them again this year

Much is said and written about the need to set financial goals. But what if you are just starting out? Which goals should you set—and why? Here are four specific goals for those who are new to saving and investing. They are sound (we’ll explain why), and can help you lay a strong financial foundation for the rest of your life.