Financial

College tuition, a new pair of glasses and retirement may seem unrelated, but the tax law says otherwise. By knowing how and where to save your money, you could pay for each of these expenses with tax-advantaged — or in some cases income-tax-free — money. Individual Retirement...

It costs parents an average of $245,340 to raise a child from birth to age 18. That figure from the U.S. Agriculture Department is just one reason why prospective parents are advised to consider parallel financial planning for child-based expenses and retirement. The key is...

Valentine’s Day is often a time to reflect on your relationship, and consider the next step. If your relationship is heading toward joint finances, it’s essential to talk about it first – openly and honestly. A 2014 survey by the National Endowment for Financial Education...

A first-time global financial literacy study shows that the keys to successful personal finance education are student perseverance and an openness to problem solving. That’s one of the main findings in the inaugural financial literacy portion of the Program of International Student...

U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development may be able to assist low and very low-income applicants with financing the purchase or construction of a home. No down payment is required and subsidy may be made available to reduce the house payment amount. Call (218) 847-9392,...

Chapter 7 is a petition to liquidate assets and discharge debts. Chapter 11 is a petition for protection from creditors and to reorganize. Chapter 12 is a petition for family farmers to reorganize. Chapter 13 is a petition for wage earners to readjust debts. Minnesota Bankruptcy...

School officials in Minnesota no longer have to worry that successful levy referendums will later be overturned by voters. In a case based largely on the Frazee-Vergas School District, the Legislature this year removed the option of so-called reverse referendums from state law. The...

One of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed unallotments is creating a frenzy of activity ... He is calling for the elimination of the Political Contribution Refund. The program allows individuals to contribute up to $50 to a political candidate campaign, and be fully reimbursed by the state...

I believe that it was at the May 11 meeting that Kathryn Kallis resigned from the Frazee-Vergas School Board. Here we are, almost two months later, and no one has been appointed to fill the vacant position. So I can't help but ask: "Why?" It would have seemed appropriate to...

Cheers to Frazee-Vergas Superintendent Deron Stender for his leadership in getting state law changed regarding reverse referendums. School districts are in dire financial straits --and because of the way state funding is set up these days, they need excess operating levies to survive. At...

Two new government programs could save you some serious money and lower your monthly student loan payments. The first new program is Income-Based Repayment: a new repayment option for federal student loans, which became available on July 1. It caps monthly payments at an affordable...

State and local arts initiatives will soon get a big funding boost. Art, history and cultural initiatives expect to receive $93 million over the next two years as a result of a constitutional amendment passed last November that increased the statewide sales tax for outdoors and...

Our global financial system is facing its biggest challenge since the Great Depression. The sheer magnitude of the crisis and the huge stakes that are involved required America to set aside partisan politics and come together on a plan to restore order and help revive confidence...

The only decent thing to do, I have decided, is to suspend my column until I can figure out a way to resolve this financial crisis. After much thought, I have a developed a solution that will help Main Street, stick it to Wall Street and provide 5 million new jobs to boot. So sit...