When it comes to getting out of debt, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Your financial goals should reflect your priorities, income and lifestyle. Setting clear, achievable goals can boost your chances of becoming debt-free.

Whether you’re negotiating with creditors or consolidating loans, focusing on tangible milestones helps you ...Read more

Back in 2019 (and for some reason it graced my mind today), the actress Emma Watson brought attention to singledom, not simply by saying that she is happily single but by naming herself as “self-partnered.” It not only acknowledges the fact that being single is a choice, which many people seem to forget, but it’s a valid one at that.

Too ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I recently got out of a long-term relationship — seven years, monogamous, talked-about-getting-married serious. I’m 34, and this is the first time I’ve been properly single since my mid-20s. It’s been a mix of freeing and terrifying. The dating scene feels like a completely different planet now — apps, situationships, ...Read more

It is nearing twilight, and I have come home to stand at the edge of the woods.

My ears at first can only pick up the chirping of crickets and tree frogs in the still of the South Carolina summer evening.

But then, daring to move in closer, I hear what I came for, the sweet trickle of the little creek that winds its way behind the woods and ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

My 7-year-old daughter really knows how to push my buttons. She does it the same way every time, and it works every time. She will simply say, “I hate you.” She's doing it for a reaction, and she gets one every time. I know what I'm doing is encouraging this behavior that makes me so upset. Obviously, this is a bad thing...Read more

Parents are giving credit cards to children so young that some of them aren’t able to make their own beds or cross the street alone. These newly minted cardholders are buckled into car seats whenever they travel and wear water wings at the pool but have credit cards linked to their parents’ account.

One mother said she and her husband added...Read more

Q. I’m wondering if I should attend my former mother-in-law’s funeral. I have had no contact with her since our breakup, years ago, but my children remained close to both their dad and their grandmother. According to my kids, their dad is pretty broken up by the passing and I am concerned he may not be much comfort to the kids (adults now) ...Read more

CHICAGO — The towering grandfather clock in the foyer of Paul and Susan Monreal’s soon-to-be former home is far more than a conversation piece. It is a relic from the grand old age of worker’s saloons and packed gambling houses — and it involves one of Chicago’s most well-known families.

The clock is believed to have once resided in ...Read more

Money is complicated. Talking honestly about money and your aspirations with someone else can be fraught with anxiety. This is one of the biggest reasons why many people find working with a financial advisor to be so challenging. Some people completely avoid seeking help, even when they need it.

Working as a financial advisor allowed me a ...Read more

I live in a wasp neighborhood. At least that’s the buzz from a couple of exterminators who came over on separate occasions to rid the house and property of all the pests that creep my wife out.

Sue, who says I’m the biggest pest of all, routinely roams the premises with a flyswatter and calls the extermination company if she sees even one ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — One bird spectacle readily observable in Allegheny County right now comes in the form of 100 purple martins swirling above the fields and their condos at Harrison Hills Park.

Nesting in colonies, the handsome dark purple bird is the largest swallow in the nation, boasting a 16-inch wingspan and gobbling up thousands of insects.

...Read more

MIAMI -- Most people who show up to meditation class over what used to be a popular Thai restaurant in Coral Gables are just looking to relieve some stress.

The spiritual part may come later, says Buddhist monk and resident teacher Gen Kelsang Tashi. Or it may not.

Either way, it’s all good here. After all, the mission of the Kadampa ...Read more

The stock market can be a scary place. It can feel like inexperienced investors don’t stand a chance against high-powered traders, and well, there’s the constant up and down of stocks. So it’s not surprising that young American investors cited intimidation as one of the top reasons they didn’t pick the stock market as their top long-term...Read more

They gather several times a week in the parking lot of a Vons supermarket in Mar Vista, and no subject is off-limits. Not even the grim medical prognosis for 70-year-old David Mays, one of the founding members of the coffee klatch.

"It's one of our major topics of conversation," said Paul Morgan, 45, a klatch regular.

Mays is a cancer survivor...Read more

Southern Blaze Bright Pink phlox is coming next year and with it brings a "Touch of Texas." It will do its part to make sure your neighbors don’t "out phlox" you when it comes to garden flowers. It is indeed a phlox that you will immediately feel is special, even refreshing with a touch of nostalgia.

There is nothing more nostalgia than being...Read more

DENVER — When Jolene Phillips decided to go back to school to become a special education teacher, the 52-year-old had already spent nearly two decades in the classroom as an aide.

She graduated from Western Colorado University last year, a feat she said was made possible by a $10,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Education.

“It ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’ve been with my partner for two years in a rocky but loving relationship. Our main issue is his all-consuming passion for photography. He's on his camera club's volunteer committee, attends meetings every Monday, shoots Wednesday and Thursday evenings plus some Fridays, and spends Saturday and Sunday mornings on photo walks. He ...Read more

A question I occasionally get (though, not too often since I mainly work with people in the very early stages of meeting and new relationships) is this: “When should I ask the person I’m dating about their finances?”

This has been especially relevant lately in light of the movie "Materialists" out right now about a matchmaker is ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- The key to hosting a game night so good it brings out Taylor Swift’s competitive side? Overprepare, according to Cathy Rong, Questlove’s chief of staff and the woman behind his viral star-studded board game bashes.

Rong can spend up to three months in advance planning semi-regular game nights for the Roots frontman, ...Read more

They hesitated at first, but the fishermen jumped into the water after realizing how calm the tiger sharks were, said Chelsea Black.

Black, a postdoctoral researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill, spent two weeks at sea, teaching shark fishermen how to tag and release the animals rather than kill them.

Black partners with Project Hiu, a nonprofit ...Read more