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Charitable giving can play an important role in many estate plans. Philanthropy cannot only give you great personal satisfaction, it can also give you a current income tax deduction, let you avoid capital gains tax, and reduce the amount of taxes your estate may owe when you die.

Every year, the College Board releases its Trends in College Pricing and Trends in Student Aid reports that highlight current college costs and trends in financial aid. While costs can vary significantly depending on the region and college, the College Board publishes average cost figures, which are based on its survey of nearly 4,000 colleges across the country.

 Why would people choose to claim Social Security retirement benefits at the earliest possible age of 62, rather than waiting until their full retirement age (66 to 67 for anyone born in 1943 or later), when doing so would reduce their monthly benefit by as much as 30%?

A goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to provide more Americans with access to affordable healthcare. One of the ways the ACA attempts to make health care affordable is through federal subsidies that reduce insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs for eligible consumers who purchase health insurance through either state-based or federal exchanges. Two opposing federal appeals court rulings have called the legality of these subsidies into question. How might these court decisions affect you?

With luck, many of us can expect to live to a very ripe old age. Are you prepared, however, for the financial implications of that possibility?

Against a backdrop of growing alarm over student loan debt and its potential impact on the economy, President Obama recently took executive action to expand the federal Pay As You Earn (PAYE) repayment program for federal student loans.

Key Tax Numbers for 2014

The Plan Sponsor Council of America recently released the results of its annual survey of profit-sharing and 401(k) plans, reflecting retirement plans in 2012.

Over the past several months, many people have received cancellation notices from their health insurance carriers, often accompanied by the explanation that their current insurance plan doesn't meet the minimum requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) scheduled to take effect January 1, 2014.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that Social Security and SSI beneficiaries will receive a 1.5% cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment for 2014.

The maximum amount you can contribute to a traditional IRA or Roth IRA in 2014 remains unchanged at $5,500 (or 100% of your earned income, if less).

Every October, the College Board releases its Trends in College Pricing report that highlights college cost increases for the current academic year along with trends in the world of higher education.

After a 16-day federal government shutdown and gridlock over whether to raise the nation's debt ceiling, a last-minute agreement brought a temporary end to the impasse.

The Medicare open enrollment period is the time during which people with Medicare can make new choices and pick plans that work best for them.

Starting in 2014, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires the establishment of state-based American Health Benefit Exchanges for individuals and Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Exchanges for small employers.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have announced that same-sex couples who are legally married in jurisdictions that recognize same-sex marriage will be treated as married for all federal tax purposes.

On August 9, President Obama signed the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, which changes the formula for determining federal student loan interest rates.

Beginning in 2014, the mandatory health insurance coverage provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) go into effect. But the law does not require everyone to have health insurance, nor are all of the coverage requirements applicable to all types of health insurance.

The White House announced on July 2, 2013, that it would delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act's reporting requirements applicable to large and mid-sized employers and health insurers for one year.

On July 1, the interest rate on new federal subsidized Stafford Loans for undergraduate students doubled--from 3.4% to 6.8%.

The housing market is stronger than it's been in years. The U.S. economy grew an estimated 1.8% during the first quarter of 2013--not rip-roaring expansion, but an improvement over the previous quarter's 0.4%.

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its rulings on two landmark cases related to same-sex marriage.

According to a well-known gauge of the U.S. housing market, home prices have been on an upswing.

Every year, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds release reports to Congress on the current financial condition and projected financial outlook of these programs.

Three years ago, on March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law.

Older individuals who own their homes often find themselves "house rich and cash poor." Developed to address this dilemma, a reverse mortgage provides funds--all at once or over time--to an older homeowner by drawing against the equity built up in the residence.

Owning a home outright is a dream that many Americans share. Having a mortgage can be a huge burden, and paying it off may be the first item on your financial to-do list.

With the lure of tax-free distributions, Roth IRAs have become increasingly popular retirement savings vehicles.

An installment sale, sometimes used when a small business or real estate is sold, is defined as a sale of property where at least one payment is to be received after the close of the tax year in which the sale occurs.

A major part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the requirement that nongrandfathered health insurance plans offer an essential health benefits package that provides a comprehensive set of services.

If you like political drama, you're in luck. It seems like just yesterday the news was filled with references to the fiscal cliff.

Health-care reform legislation, enacted in 2010, contains some provisions that directly affect our nation's elder population.