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Money & Finance
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One size doesn't fit all life insurance needs
Life is full of phases and milestones, and each one could change your life insurance needs. Whether you're starting a new job or retiring, single or just married, deployed by the military or leaving the service, buying a home or having a baby, each transition in your unique circumstances merits a financial re-examination.
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This back-to-school season, stock up on college funding advice
Back-to-school shopping season means big sales for retailers selling pencils, backpacks, clothes and tech gadgets. Young parents know that as children get older, their back-to-school list grows with them. Eventually for many, that list will grow to include dorm necessities, textbooks and yes, college tuition. Parents, if...
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Private investors not the only ones adding gold to portfolios
Since the onset of the recession when many investment portfolios took a hit, there has been a lot of talk about the value of investing in gold as one way for investors to protect against market volatility and preserve wealth. Now, as policy makers both here and in Europe take steps to stimulate economic growth, there is ...
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Growing families looking for larger homes
More and more households have extended family living together under one roof, and the tight fit has some families in the market for a larger home. For the "Sandwich Generation," a generation of people who are caring for their aging parents while supporting their own children, there are advantages to having children and grandparents under one roof such as sharing of household responsibilities and finances and increased focus on family time together. With these advantages, however, there may be...
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Turn health into wealth
Health care today is expensive, but there are ways that you can give your wallet a break. One of the best ways to make health care more affordable is to avoid the need for medical care in the first place. More than 75 percent of health care costs are attributed to chronic illness, most of which are controllable, if not p...
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Safeguard the big day: How to protect the wedding of your dreams
Planning a wedding has many important components, with decisions to make on everything from finding the perfect flowers to choosing the right location. For brides- and grooms-to-be, one important choice that shouldn't be overlooked is the idea of purchasing wedding insurance. Because no matter how carefully a couple plan...
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Social Security recipients embrace electronic payments, give high marks to Treasury-recommended prepaid card
If you receive one of the 6 million paper checks for your monthly Social Security or other federal benefit, the time has come to switch to the safety and convenience of electronic payments.
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Disability insurance: protecting your future
There is a common misperception that most disabilities are caused by accidents. In reality, the majority of disabilities are caused by illness. You might think it won't happen to you. And perhaps it won't. But in 2009, more than 15 million Americans experienced a disability that prevented them from working.
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Eight reasons to review your life insurance
Life insurance might not be as common as you think. Did you know that 30 percent of American households have no form of life insurance whatsoever, leaving millions to struggle to cover day-to-day expenses if a main breadwinner were to pass away? Even if you already have life insurance, financial and insurance professiona...
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For today's teens, the time to plan for college expenses is now
When it comes to planning for college, most parents are sure of just two things: They want their child to get a college degree, and they'll need a smart savings plan in place to ensure college expenses are covered.
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Renting: a financially smart option for small business
Starting a business is a huge endeavor for entrepreneurs, especially when larger expense items are on the required equipment list. During a business's first few years of operation, renting equipment, rather than purchasing it outright, can allow the company to save money and invest toward becoming established.
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Five easy, smart ways to manage your money better
Money management isn't a boring thing just for people in suits. Instead, it's a great way to make sure you have the money to buy things you want or need, right at the time you want or need them. If you're not sure what state your finances are in, start out right with these five easy ways to start managing your money better.
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national news

People look at the destruction after a huge tornado struck Moore, OklahomaBy Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Rescuers went building to building in search of victims and thousands of survivors were homeless on Tuesday, a day after a massive tornado tore through a suburb of Oklahoma City, wiping out whole blocks of homes and killing at least 24 people. The death toll was lower than initially feared, but nine children were among the dead, including seven who died at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit in the deadliest tornado to hit the United States in two years. ...


Tue May 21 16:59:02 UTC 2013
By Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Less than three hours after a deadly twister on Monday flattened a swath of Moore, Oklahoma, tornado warning sirens sounded in Joplin, Missouri, 215 miles to the northeast. While no twister touched down, the Oklahoma disaster and the sirens stirred painful memories in Joplin, which on Wednesday observes the second anniversary of one of the most catastrophic tornadoes in American history. "It brought back a lot of fear, especially since there was a chance that a tornado could hit here," Sarah Jo Radcliffe, a Joplin resident, said on Tuesday. ...
Tue May 21 17:13:55 UTC 2013

Rescue workers look through the rubble at Plaza Towers Elementary school in MooreBy Ben Berkowitz and Julie Steenhuysen (Reuters) - Moore, Oklahoma, has had the bad luck of being hit by two highly destructive tornadoes, both in the month of May, 14 years apart. But the Moore that got struck on Monday is not the same as in 1999. Like a lot of towns across America and in the so-called "Tornado Alley," rapid growth has made it a bigger target, vulnerable to more damage. The tornado, with winds that may have topped 200 miles per hour, killed at least 24 people and injured hundreds more, with many of the casualties children from two schools that were destroyed. ...


Tue May 21 15:34:25 UTC 2013
OKLAHOMA CITY—Anthony Connel was sitting in traffic off of South 149th Street, about a mile from his home, when he saw it happen: A dark black cloud, so ominous and wide that it didn’t even look like a tornado, dropped to the ground—and headed straight for his house. Connel, a sales manager at Anheuser-Busch, had [...]
Tue May 21 15:58:37 UTC 2013