personal finance

Plenty of lenders offer jumbo mortgages now, although the requirements are stricter than they used to be.

Jumbo mortgages are home loans that are bigger than normal. They exceed the "conforming limit" -- the maximum loan amount that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will buy.

'Tis the season to buy a home

While you may think it's crazy to tackle the huge task of home buying during the schedule-jammed holiday season, the holidays are actually a great time to find real estate deals in today's new economy.

Paul Meany of San Francisco has a good question about unemployment statistics that illustrates why, if you want to know what's going on in the labor market, you can't fixate on one number or headline.

Warren Buffett's investing prowess has spawned countless imitators hoping to strike it rich by following the Oracle of Omaha's techniques.

But few are as disciplined as Pavel Begun.

Wouldn't it be great if the Internal Revenue Service were looking for you to give you money?

For nearly 108,000 taxpayers nationwide, that's exactly the case.

The agency is holding federal income tax refunds totaling about $124 million that it tried to distribute this tax season but were returned as undeliverable.

Your nest egg is looking healthier these days, but it could still use a makeover.

A leaking roof, a burst pipe or a skyrocketing electric bill are headaches no matter when they happen, but when you're on a fixed income and unprepared, they can become a financial crisis.

Like many people considering a mortgage modification, David L. of Oakland, Calif., wonders how it will affect his credit score.

Early returns indicate the recession is causing more people to take withdrawals from their retirement plans for reasons other than rolling them over to other plans or because they've retired.

Foreclosure. It seems like half the country is in it and the other half is trying to make a killing on it.

The number of foreclosed homes staggers the imagination and with more adjustable-rate loans about to reset, the end is nowhere in sight. The crisis, however, provides the opportunity to purchase a house that was all but impossible for many to afford in the boom years.