ArcaMax

Last week it was career guidance... now it’s time to help new college graduates manage their finances. (This advice can also help those who are restarting at any point in their lives.) These five steps should help form long lasting, good habits and begin the process of taking control of your money.

Understanding where your money goes is the ...Read more

It’s college graduation season, and new grads are facing a murky labor market. To help, I crowdsourced career advice from workers in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond. I then followed up these pearls of wisdom with an Aunt Jill (“AJ”) coda.

Corporate attorney: Do as many practice interviews with your career center as you can, especially ...Read more

At its recent policy meeting, the Federal Reserve opted to hold short term interest rates steady at 4.25-4.50%, as it weighs how the Trump tariffs will cycle through the economy.

Tariffs have just begun to impact economic growth. First quarter growth (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 0.3 percent, a substantial slide from the 2.4% expansion ...Read more

April is Financial Literacy Month and to celebrate, I am answering some of your questions.

Q: Can President Donald Trump Fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell?

The Federal Reserve was created by Congress in 1913 to make the American banking system more stable. Banking panics had occurred often throughout the 19th century and establishment ...Read more

It has been said that history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. What lessons from history can we learn when it comes to extreme volatility of public policy and market movements?

One obvious takeaway from the past three months is that unpredictable things can happen at any time and can upend your plans, both personal and financial.

You ...Read more

It has been a period of time (just 2.5 weeks, if you can believe it!) since President Donald Trump displayed his posterboard tariff plan in the Rose Garden on April 2nd. Financial markets have been roiled, trading partners have volleyed back tariffs of their own, and one week after the original announcement, the president backed down from some ...Read more

“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again... They'll be a little disturbance, we're OK with that, it won't be much” — President Donald Trump in his March 4, 2025 speech before a joint session of Congress

By now you know that Trump’s April 2 “reciprocal” tariffs were much steeper than expected. How ...Read more

Happy spring, or as I like to call it, shredder weather! This is my annual reminder to comb through your physical and electronic financial files and tidy up. Doing so can help you better manage your money and potentially uncover savings.

If you have not yet invested in a shredder, let’s get that on the to do list. As a reminder, scammers and ...Read more

There was an upside surprise in the February Existing Home Sales report, as sales increased by more than expected and inventory climbed.

Of course, one month does not change the fact that housing affordability is still tough, and there are many homeowners who are unwilling to give up those ultra-low mortgage interest rates that they locked in a...Read more

If there is one word that keeps popping up when it comes to the economy and to markets, it is uncertainty.

Maybe the job market will be OK, but maybe it won’t; maybe the economy can withstand tariffs or maybe we will slow down and slide into a recession; maybe AI will eliminate all of our jobs, but maybe it won’t; and maybe the stock market...Read more

I have received a slew of emails from government employees who are still employed but are worried that the axe could fall at any moment. (This goes for my colleagues in the media, who are facing similar pressures amid a shrinking industry.)

For the long-tenured folks, these are usually framed as one podcast listener queried: “Should we stay, ...Read more

Real estate has frustrated would-be buyers since it exploded during the pandemic. After years of chasing a red-hot housing market, is there relief on the horizon? The answer is maybe, but only for the fortunate few who can make the numbers work.

High prices continue to be the big hurdle. Five years ago, the median price for an existing home was...Read more

Time for another Q&A column! If you have a question or a comment about a recent article, send an email to: askjill@jillonmoney.com.

Question: Due to bad storms, we were forced to use a large portion of our emergency cash for house repairs. Can I skip maxing out my workplace retirement contributions for 2025 and then use the money to rebuild my ...Read more