<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>washingtonpost.com - The Color of Money</title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><description>The Color of Money</description><language>en-us</language><ttl>15</ttl><image><title>washingtonpost.com</title><width>140</width><height>20</height><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com</link><url>http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/image/wp_web.gif</url></image><item><title><![CDATA[Investor Beware: The Con Is On]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11168-2005Apr23.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11168-2005Apr23.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[It's the season to scam.<br> I think I've used the phrase "low-life bum" more than I care to as I've read story after story this past year of investors being ripped off in new and old scams.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Brush Up on Your Tax Facts to Save More Next Year]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6237-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6237-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  Have you recovered from filing your 2004 tax return? If so, get busy preparing for next year.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Managing Retirement, Automatically]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58288-2005Apr16.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58288-2005Apr16.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Automation can be a wonderful thing. Now, investors can select a mutual fund that will automatically adjust their investment portfolios. This fairly new fund option is called life cycle investing.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ways to Make Sure You Can Pay for the Golden Years]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51770-2005Apr13.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51770-2005Apr13.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  "Both my husband and I are nearing retirement age and are concerned about having enough money for our golden years."]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Retirement Savings By the Book]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39160-2005Apr9.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39160-2005Apr9.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  The retirement savings story in America plays like a scratched record. Again and again we hear the same line: Most people aren't saving enough for their retirement.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Car Buying Doesn't Have to Be Combat]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32823-2005Apr6.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32823-2005Apr6.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  I recently received an e-mail from Ryan Bachman, an operations manager at an automobile dealership in Louisville, who sincerely wanted to know the answer to some questions about car buyers.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[You Can't Save 'Too Much' For Retirement]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20460-2005Apr2.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20460-2005Apr2.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[When I solicit comments or questions, I don't want you all to think they go into the abyss, never to be read. I do read your questions and comments and, while I can't respond to all, here are answers to some:]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tax Prep Calls for Careful Steps]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14466-2005Mar30.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14466-2005Mar30.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[The time is coming faster than you think. Yes, it's tax crunch time.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Youth Is Fleeting, But Debt Isn't]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2622-2005Mar26.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2622-2005Mar26.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I had no idea I would touch off such a storm when I wrote that college students, who are racking up student loan debt that could take them two or three decades to pay off, can't afford to take spring break vacations.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Can't Be Sure of Credit Status, Even With a Scorecard]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61733-2005Mar23.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61733-2005Mar23.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  Humorist Mason Cooley once said, "Every path to a new understanding begins in confusion."]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mandatory Counseling, A Good Idea in Theory]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48994-2005Mar19.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48994-2005Mar19.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Under proposed bankruptcy legislation, which appears to be on the road to passage, individuals will have to undergo some form of credit counseling at least 180 days before they are allowed to file for bankruptcy protection.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA['The Most Important Financial Number']]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42233-2005Mar16.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42233-2005Mar16.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  Anyone who uses credit ought to know what a credit score is. And surveys show that most people do.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Retirement's Instruction Manual]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28951-2005Mar12.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28951-2005Mar12.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  The humorist Mason Cooley once said, "In retirement, only money and symptoms are consequential."]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[On Spring Break, With Their Heads in the Sand]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22142-2005Mar9.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22142-2005Mar9.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Typically when people talk about March Madness, they're referring to the NCAA basketball tournament. But I want to discuss another March Madness. It's the madness that must afflict the thousands of college students who take spring break trips they can't afford.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Big Refund Isn't Great News]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9158-2005Mar5.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9158-2005Mar5.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Many of us have been told all our lives that it is more blessed to give than to receive.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bankruptcy Bill Lingers in the Ring]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2724-2005Mar2.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2724-2005Mar2.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[The relentless battle by Republicans in Congress, egged on by the credit card industry, to push through a bankruptcy bill reminds me of George Foreman and the rope-a-dope boxing technique Muhammad Ali used on him in their historic fight in 1974.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Honey, I Stretched The Fiscal Truth]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55224-2005Feb26.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55224-2005Feb26.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Well, the results are in for the "Honey, I Need Some Money" contest. Let's just say I winced more than I laughed.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Be Cautious About Merging Your Money With Your Honey]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48742-2005Feb23.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48742-2005Feb23.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[The couples who are most successful in managing their money are those who communicate early and often about money, agree on goals and roles, and recognize that essentially they are partners in business together, says Joan L. Gulley, chief executive of PNC Advisors, a major wealth manager.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Embarrassment of Riches]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37136-2005Feb19.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37136-2005Feb19.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[A new study from the Visa credit card people found that an increasing number of affluent individuals report embarrassment with being identified with wealth and status.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Loan Terms Can Make It Hard to Climb Out of the Subprime Pit]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30965-2005Feb16.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30965-2005Feb16.html?nav=rss_business/columns/personalfinance/colorofmoney</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:49:28 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  Those of us who live in the high tower of creditworthiness can't imagine not negotiating for the best mortgage loan. We can't fathom not finding lenders willing to cut us a break by eliminating certain fees or expensive loan terms.]]></description><author> Michelle Singletary</author></item></channel></rss>