I’ve Been Writing About Personal Finance for 25 Years. Some Things Never Change.

For more than two decades, I have watched how people save, spend, invest and lose money change completely. There are two considerations when protecting your finances: making the most of what you have, now and in the future, and not being cheated or scammed out of your money.

Passbooks are now apps. Trading floors are touchscreens. Cold-call scams use, among other tactics, cloned voices.

But what held then still holds today.

1. If it sounds too good to be true, it is

A guaranteed return, a limited-time window, a stranger who offers an unbelievable deal: The shape of a scam has not changed in a century. Only the delivery has. The boiler-room cold call became an email, then a text, then a voice that sounds exactly like your grandson because a few seconds of his video was enough to clone it.

In 2025, 1 in 5 adults reported fraud or a scam, and consumers absorbed an estimated $56 billion in losses after recoveries, the Federal Reserve’s latest household survey found. The tell is the pressure: Anyone demanding immediate payment, secrecy or an unusual payment method, and blocking you from verifying, is running one.

2. Keep your investment costs low

Every dollar you pay in fees is a dollar that stops compounding for you. Paying as little as possible to invest has always been one of the surest ways to end up with more, because cost is the rare part of investing you actually control.

What changed is how hard that used to be. In 2001, buying a stock meant a broker’s commission, and many funds carried a sales load on top of yearly costs above 1%. Cheap index funds existed, but you had to hunt for them.

Today they are the default: The average stock fund charged 1.04% a year in 1996 and 0.40% in 2025, with index equity exchange-traded funds down to 0.14%, according to Investment Company Institute data. On a $200,000 balance, trimming a percentage point of fees keeps about $1,800 in your pocket the first year, and more after. The rule held. Acting on it just got easy.

If you have over $100,000 in savings, it may be worth getting some advice from a pro. SmartAsset offers a free service that matches you to a vetted, fiduciary advisor, legally bound to act in your best interests, in under five minutes.

3. Be adequately insured

Insurance is for the losses that would sink you: your home, your income, a liability that trails you for years, your own death if others depend on your paycheck. The further a policy drifts from catastrophe toward inconvenience, the harder it is to justify.

The right call depends on your savings, your dependents and what the law requires. An extended warranty on a blender is still a poor bet. A low deductible can be worth it if you could absorb a large loss in cash. What is easier now is pricing the coverage yourself, though comparing the fine print still takes attention.

Typically, a vehicle manufacturer’s warranty lasts three years. Yet the average car is around 12 years old. If you’re concerned about coming up with thousands of dollars for a repair bill, protect your investment with Endurance Warranty Services.

One unexpected HVAC, plumbing, or appliance failure could cost you $3,000+ out of pocket. Most homeowners aren’t prepared for the next breakdown. Claim your free home warranty quote today.

4. Blind loyalty costs you

You need insurance, but companies count on you not shopping around for the best deal. The auto-renewal, the rate that drifts up a little each year, the hunch that switching is more trouble than it is worth: Inertia pricing is built to make staying put cost you.

Some insurers and carriers dangle loyalty perks, but the loyal customer rarely holds the best price. Checking used to mean phone calls and a lost afternoon. Now you can compare your coverage in the time it takes to finish your coffee. Insurify shows real-time quotes side-by-side without making calls. It is fast, secure, and rated 4.7 stars on Trustpilot.

5. Pay yourself first

Money you never see is money you do not spend. The most durable saving trick ever built is to remove the decision: Move the money before it reaches your checking account.

For decades that meant a payroll deduction into a retirement plan. Now automatic transfers do the same job, and many plans raise your contribution rate a point a year on a schedule you set once.

Reset your approach to your finances and start hitting your savings goals.

6. Keep a financial cushion within reach

Behind a lot of financial spirals is a small emergency that had nowhere to go, and became credit card debt because there was no cash to meet it.

Three to six months of expenses is the usual target, though the right number depends on how steady your income is and what else you can reach in a pinch. What changed is where it sits. The passbook account paying almost nothing at the branch gave way to an online high-yield savings account that keeps the cash within a day’s reach and pays a competitive rate.

If you’re still at a traditional brick-and-mortar bank, you may be paying monthly checking fees while earning almost nothing on your savings.

SoFi offers a combined checking-and-savings account with no account fees. With eligible direct deposit or $5,000+ in qualifying deposits every 31 days, you can earn 3.10% APY on savings — many times the national average — plus 0.50% APY on checking. New members may also qualify for a limited-time APY boost that lifts savings up to 3.80% APY for up to six months. (APYs are variable and can change at any time.)

New members who set up qualifying direct deposit may also be eligible for a cash bonus of up to $400, based on the amount deposited. Terms apply — see details.

7. High-interest debt is the enemy

High-interest debt can arrive from a medical bill or a lost job as easily as an impulse buy, but once it lands the cost is punishing: The average rate on cards charging interest tops 22%, according to Federal Reserve data.

What changed is how many doors lead in. The card is still there, but buy now, pay later waits at the checkout, one-tap ordering erases the pause between wanting and buying, and a $40 purchase arrives with a financing offer. Paying down a balance at 22% is a guaranteed 22% return, which is why it usually comes before investing.

Debbie is a free app where bank partners fund cash rewards for reaching financial goals. Pay down a balance, build better habits and collect rewards along the way. Members have received more than $2.3 million so far. The app works best when you send the reward back toward the debt instead of treating it as spending money.

8. Guard your personal information

Your identity is a financial asset, and thieves treat it like one. Protecting it used to mean shredding statements and watching your wallet.

Now your data sits in databases that can be breached without you doing anything, and a thief needs only your password and a lapse of attention. The habits that help are unglamorous: a different password for every account, two-factor authentication on anything touching your money, and a freeze on your credit at the three major bureaus, which blocks new accounts in your name and costs nothing.

In 2024, U.S. fraud and identity-theft losses topped $12.7 billion. Unfortunately, most people don’t know their info has leaked until it’s used against them.

With Coveron, your identity is monitored 24/7. You see instantly if your personal data is on the Dark Web, which accounts may be compromised, and what steps you should take to secure your digital identity before it turns into a real problem.

With Coveron, you get:

• Dark Web monitoring for exposed personal data
• Criminal records and credit monitoring
• Alerts about compromised accounts
• Identity-theft protection backed by financial coverage of up to $1 million
• Protect your identity now!

25 years of good advice

At their core, none of these suggestions are new or complicated. The hard part is not understanding the rules. It is doing them, consistently, while the technology around you keeps changing. Remember, what was good for your parents is good for you, especially as you approach retirement.