Money Advice

The holiday shopping season officially kicks off on Black Friday, November 26, the day after Thanksgiving. In case you have just popped out of a time warp, this chaotic day is when stores open their doors early, slash prices and are swarmed by throngs of bargain-seeking shoppers.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to score some great deals and cross several items off your shopping list. But in the competitive shopping frenzy, it’s easy to get carried away. Here are six steps for successfully surviving the day with shopping goals met and your dignity intact.

Are you and you spouse aware of one another's finances? Surveys show it is a big issue for couples. It’s important for couples to discuss finances at the earliest possible time in their relationship and to communicate frequently. Couples should also make sure they agree when it comes to financial practices such as budgeting and how to utilize credit throughout the marriage. Individually, each partner should make sure to be engaged with the household finances so they can protect themselves and their assets if nothing else can be done and the relationship ends.

Americans have already forgotten the lessons of the Great Recession, judging by the Consumer Financial Literacy survey. When the recession began, 57 percent of Americans were spending less money than the year before. By 2014, this had dropped to 29 percent. Sixty-one percent don't have a budget, 16 percent retire without enough savings, and 16 percent have no emergency savings. Before you find yourself in a financial emergency, make sure you're not making any of these common mistakes that could kill your finances.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A couple of years ago, Emilie Hunt had to go to the emergency room with a stomach virus. The bill took a huge chunk of money out of her savings, more than $800, and kept her from saving for a couple of months.

"I'm really bad at planning for unexpected expenses," she said. "And instead of cutting other expenses, often the first money I cut is what would go into savings."

When you get married, generally you combine bank accounts and share finances; and credit cards are no exception. However, for many couples, talking about ID theft and how to protect yourself isn’t on either of your "to do" lists.

Take myself for instance, had I frozen my credit when my wife and I got married, neither of my cases of identity theft would have happened and I wouldn't be an identity theft speaker today.

Americans worry a lot about retirement.

Will their savings hold out? Will Social Security still be around? Will healthcare costs gouge a great hole in their finances?

What many of them may not be aware of, though, is that if handled correctly their life insurance policies could play a role in making retirement a little more secure.

One of the big tricks for having a successful retirement is to make sure you have enough cash flow to pay your bills and still be able to enjoy life. Few people have pensions any more. Social Security only helps so much.

In a nation that debates nearly everything, this topic creates almost no disagreement. Americans aren’t saving anywhere near enough for retirement, setting the stage for a potentially dreary time ahead for many when they reach the closing act of their lives. In fact, a study by the Economic Policy Institute found that almost half of American families have no retirement-account savings at all.

While the widespread-savings shortfall is a given, a consensus is trickier to find when it comes to advice on just how much of your weekly salary you need to stash away if you want your retirement to be secure.