personal finance

In money, as in love, opposites attract.

More than 65 percent of Americans marry someone who is their "financial opposite." He likes to spend; she likes to save. She likes taking risks with investments; he's risk-averse. She knows how much is in the joint checking account down to the penny; he has no idea.

Are you a 15 percenter like Mitt Romney, or are you a 28 percenter? Have you taken steps to avoid becoming a 35 percenter?

As the April 17 filing deadline draws closer, many taxpayers will be wondering which of six tax brackets they fall into and whether they did enough things correctly last year to position themselves into as low a tax bracket as possible.

Having a home equity loan or home equity line of credit when you're trying to refinance your mortgage adds a layer of complication to the approval process.

High-yield dividend-paying stocks used to be seen as risky investments.

That was before the economic downturn exposed other risks in the financial system that could be just as damaging, such as the heightened risk of inflation due to the rising costs of food and energy.

A great deal of press coverage has included news of bank fee increases and charges. Less discussed has been the role of banks in the debt collection process. This week, I had three letters from readers with slightly different questions regarding bank levies. So I decided to answer all three. Here we go for my bank-levy trifecta.

Finally -- I open the Sunday newspaper and see something positive regarding job seekers, rather than the usual negative news about unemployment and loss of jobs. I was so excited!

Buying a new house brings up different issues than buying a pre-owned home. You have access to more information on building materials and systems than a subsequent buyer. But unknowns lurk: What will the completed neighborhood look like? Will it include all the features promised in the brochure?

With tax season getting under way, today I'll answer reader questions about property taxes, the new Medicare surcharge starting in 2013 and how to get those old-fashioned paper tax forms.

Q. Tony G. asks, "Has anything been published regarding the process to order forms for both IRS and (state) Franchise Tax? If not, where can I find the information?"

Dear Debt Adviser: Your article, "Old debts won't hurt new loan," had a lot of valuable information I forwarded to my daughter. Twelve years ago, she was one of those 18-year-olds who was offered numerous credit cards, even though she was only a student. Her story is the familiar one of too much credit and no way to pay it all back.

Dear Debt Adviser: I have two credit cards each at 13.99 percent, totaling $9,100 of debt. I also own my truck outright. It is valued at $11,000. I make $400 in total payments to my credit cards per month. My idea is to sell my truck, pay off the credit cards and buy a used vehicle for around $15,000. This would be lower than what I currently pay to my credit cards.