401(k)s in maximum overdrive

Parties with a vested interest in your retirement savings — employers, investment firms, employee advocates, you name it — hotly contested most of the provisions in the recently passed Pension Protection Act of 2006.

What to Buy
The latest market swings should have you reaching for your shopping list.

Healthcare, energy drive up college costs
State university tuition has leaped 40 percent in the past five years, hitting the three out of four American college students who attend public universities.

Ace your class, save some cash
A high grade point average in college may help you make the college dean’s list. But it also could save you money, which is no small feat when you or your parents are paying $20,000 or more a year to secure a bachelor’s degree.

It’s About Time Warner
Forget AOL. It’s the media giant’s other businesses that are keeping me in the stock.

Dodging Your Lease
New web sites allow you do what was once impossible: get out of your auto lease.

Don’t gamble with retirement
QUESTION: Why do you advise people planning for retirement to figure on living to 90 or beyond? I hope to retire at 57, but I’m not going to plan on living beyond 85. That just seems iffy at best. — Paul, Bridgeport, Connecticut

3 tips: Maximizing card rewards
American Express will be eliminating double reward points on some merchandise starting in October, according to a recent announcement. And one expert we talked to said it’s only a sign of what’s to come in reward-card programs.

Taming Inflation
The Federal Reserve has put the brakes on inflation without harming the economy.

Buying in a Cooling Market
It’s stressful, but we’ll tell you how to come out ahead.