Five years ago his stepdaughter, now 19, started dating a boy who used to hide in closets and under beds when his wife said he couldn’t spend the night, break into vacant apartments in their building, and eventually get arrested for trespassing. He lives about 100 miles away. His stepdaughter moved to another state after…
He and his wife paid $16,000 for two Delta One tickets to Italy, a trip he describes as one they rarely get the chance to take. He’s been a loyal Delta customer for years, flies first class exclusively, and spends a significant amount with the airline between business and personal travel. When they booked five…
A few years ago she found a wallet in a grocery store parking lot. It had cash, several cards, and the owner’s ID inside. She stood there for a moment knowing exactly what the right thing to do was, and then she put the wallet in her bag and walked to her car. She wasn’t…
She opened a Roth IRA decades ago, hasn’t contributed in years, and listed her husband as the primary beneficiary. Recently she received the standard five-year account review letter and noticed something she hadn’t put there. Two contingent beneficiaries had been added to the account, a man identified by initials and a woman identified by initials,…
She expected a $4,000 tax refund. When the check arrived it was $500. Her tax preparer had deposited the full refund into her own account and kept $3,500 as processing fees, an amount she never disclosed before filing the return. The preparer had framed the arrangement as a convenience, taking her fee directly from the…
She’s 21, still in college, has no savings, no car, no license, and student loan debt, and her mother told her yesterday that her bank account is essentially the family emergency fund and that she shouldn’t be stingy with her money because of everything her mother sacrificed raising her. She is working this summer specifically…
