Personal Finance

FINRA has received numerous calls recently from individuals who have received unexpected checks, some from organizations whose names are household words. To those callers, we offer a concise response: Don’t cash the check, it’s almost certainly counterfeit.

Retirement savers, are you making the most of your company's 401(k) match? Even though a quarter of the year has gone by, you can take steps to make the most of your company's 401(k) match. Each year, Americans leave billions of dollars in 401(k) company matches on the table. Here's how to avoid becoming one of the estimated one-of-four employees who misses out on free money.

To help finance its operations, the U.S. government borrows money by selling investors a variety of debt securities known collectively as Treasury securities, or simply, Treasuries. These securities have a special place in the investment world, since they are the benchmark by which most other debt securities are measured.

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.

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.