Finance & Economy

 As soon as you recover from filing this year’s tax return, do the following:

1. Organize your files.
Get a manila folder, label it “2011 Tax Stuff,” and fill it with white file folders. Now, get your tax return. Go down the list of income items and deductions (a tax return is nothing more than a complicated income statement when you get right down to brass tacks),

When it comes to insurance, however, ignorance is not bliss. What you don’t know — or think you know that isn’t so — could lead to financial disaster. Take this true-or-false quiz from MetLife Auto and Home.

We are told that there are too many “rich” people. Instead, we should think that there are not enough rich people. Because only wealthy people can pay the taxes that will fill in our budget deficits.

A change in personal circumstances can also warrant a change in investment approach.

Once upon a time, the banks wanted your business so badly they actually gave you a free toaster as an incentive to make a deposit. That’s a time few remember — a tale told by elders to amuse the younger generation.

Very quietly, and without any of the fanfare with which it was announced a year ago, the government ended its safety guarantee for money-market mutual funds. Last Sept. 18, the Treasury Department’s Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds was allowed to expire.

Like crabgrass in spring, debt-settlement firms are spreading fast all over the country. Tempting radio commercials tell you they can negotiate with your credit-card issuer so you’ll pay as little as 40 percent of what you owe. Don’t fall for it. Most debt-settlement companies require you to divert your current payments to a savings account giving them the leverage to negotiate.