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Nothing's generating a whole lot of interest right now. But more liquid and stable is better (cash or cash-like). But a related question: Why a new car? You can knock thousands of dollars off of t …

You need to pay the statement balance before the due date to avoid interest and penalties. If you pay more than the statement balance (to cover some of the charges you made during the current stateme …

I may be walking on thin ice but that's never stopped me from answering before. ;) I have a PhD in physics. I knew that I wasn't a die-hard publisher so I didn't pursue academia. A postdoc will lik …

Here's one way of looking at it. The first years of a 30-year mortgage are mostly interest payments. Even with a 4% 30-year loan -- I seem to recall seeing rates that low! -- the interest part of y …

More to the point: gifts to specific people are not tax-deductible (see page 6).

If you don't drive to work or school, you may be able to get your vehicle classified as a "recreational vehicle" and pay lower premiums. (source)

Sounds like you have a nice rental on your hands, honestly, if it's blue-collar-ish material. Not too expensive for a rental. Is the rental market fairly strong there? You're probably looking at $4 …

If you have the expired check in hand and take it back to the bank that issued it to you, I'd think they could do something for you. (I'd hope they would, anyway.) But automatically? I don't think …

You probably won't save much, if anything at all, by getting another fixed-term mortgage. The last part of a mortgage is mostly principal payments. If you borrowed $200k (guessing) at 4.75% then dur …

It is a bad deal. It saves the government from processing your refund as a check or an ACH deposit, and lets them keep your money -- money that they overwithheld! -- interest-free for another year. …

Keep saving just like you are. You can pay taxes now, or pay taxes later. The 401(k) and the like let you pay taxes later -- maybe much later, and who knows how high the tax rates will be. A saving …

If you want to store that much money, find a good hiding place. (E-mail me the location. I'll keep it a secret. I promise!) But I think instead you want to invest that much money, in a cash-like l …

You do need to file if you want your refund. The IRS has a questionnaire to determine whether you need to file at all. (See the answer to question 4 about filing on time.) There is a failure to fil …

A good place to start is this link at the US Department of Commerce.

Congrats on having such a nice emergency fund. That's pretty substantial. I don't want to be the one to suggest the One Investment To Rule Them All because I might be wrong. :) I'd investigate oth …