Accessibility links
Your Money NPR coverage of personal finance, money, investing, taxes, retirement, mortgages and housing markets, wealth management, and stock market news. Download NPR podcasts and RSS feeds.

Your Money

Friday

Thursday

New Law Raises Funding Hopes For Startups, Worries Over Fraud

Would You Give This Guy Your Money? Space Monkey co-founder Alen Peacock delivers a presentation at the 2012 LAUNCH Festival in San Francisco. Peacock says that when he first got started, he couldn't accept investments from friends because they weren't accredited investors. LAUNCH Media, LLC via Flickr hide caption

toggle caption
LAUNCH Media, LLC via Flickr

All Tech Considered

New Law Raises Funding Hopes For Startups, Worries Over Fraud

The Jobs Act could make it easier for tech startups to raise money by allowing anyone — not just millionaires — to invest. But many are concerned it will also lead to a new wave of financial fraud. "I think we can expect to see ... African princes inventing cold fusion any second now," says one entrepreneur.

New Law Raises Funding Hopes For Startups, Worries Over Fraud

Listen · 4:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149620312/149635794" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
National Trend 'Mobs' Local Businesses With Cash

Lander's clothing store in Jamestown, N.Y., prepares for a "cash mob" to descend last week. Daniel Robison/WBFO hide caption

toggle caption
Daniel Robison/WBFO

Business

National Trend 'Mobs' Local Businesses With Cash

WBFO-FM 88.7

In a "flash mob," hundreds of people invade a public space to do something in unison. But a "cash mob" adds a mission to that idea. All over the country, crowds of people are being organized on social media sites to invade mom-and-pop stores at a specific day and time to spend money locally.

National Trend 'Mobs' Local Businesses With Cash

Listen · 3:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149555396/149582946" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

How Much Do You Pay To Maintain Your 401(K)?

Consumers pay an estimated $30 - $60 billion a year in 401(k) management fees. But the average American has no idea how much they pay or that they pay any fees at all, according to the AARP. Guest host Jacki Lyden speaks with Ian Salisbury of SmartMoney Magazine about the fees and the call by consumer advocates for more transparency.

How Much Do You Pay To Maintain Your 401(K)?

Listen · 7:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149531713/149531704" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Occupy Groups Reimagine The Bank

Occupy L.A. activists rally outside the Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles in February. The Occupy protests around the country have inspired two working groups that are attempting to reform the banking system and create an alternative bank. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Damian Dovarganes/AP

Business

Occupy Groups Reimagine The Bank

Groups within the Occupy Wall Street movement are trying to overhaul the banking system — and they even dream of a new kind of bank. One activist sees "a bank that would be democratic, that would be owned by its employees and by its customers."

Occupy Groups Reimagine The Bank

Listen · 4:29
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149443425/149443491" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
To Keep Customers, Brick-And-Mortar Stores Look To Smartphones

A shopper searches on her BlackBerry for coupons inside a Target store. Consumers with smartphones are changing the way stores set prices and track customer tastes. M. Spencer Green/AP hide caption

toggle caption
M. Spencer Green/AP

All Tech Considered

To Keep Customers, Brick-And-Mortar Stores Look To Smartphones

New apps could guide you to specific products and even deliver discounts based on where you're standing in a store. It's all designed to get you to continue shopping locally instead of online.

To Keep Customers, Brick-And-Mortar Stores Look To Smartphones

Listen · 4:25
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149463201/149480693" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Uninsured Will Still Need The Money To Meet The Mandate

A bulletin board in New York's Jamaica Hospital offers advice for uninsured patients. Seth Wenig/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Seth Wenig/AP

Shots - Health News

Uninsured Will Still Need The Money To Meet The Mandate

While the Supreme Court considers the legality of requiring individuals to purchase health insurance, others are questioning the economics of the mandate. Some worry that, even with government subsidies, it may be difficult to find the funds to pay for health insurance.

Uninsured Will Still Need The Money To Meet The Mandate

Listen · 4:14
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149398976/149443382" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Finding Cheaper Gas With Your Smartphone

The GasBuddy app and website rely on crowdsourcing — people across the country sending in gas prices. NPR hide caption

toggle caption
NPR

All Tech Considered

Finding Cheaper Gas With Your Smartphone

Several companies have developed smartphone applications to help people find the cheapest gasoline prices in town. We tried two popular apps; they work, but there are a few things to watch out for.

Finding Cheaper Gas With Your Smartphone

Listen · 3:33
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149229284/149394755" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Fannie, Freddie Consider Mortgage Write-Downs

A Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac mortgage services representative (left) helps a person register for mortgage help in Miami. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Crisis In The Housing Market

Fannie, Freddie Consider Mortgage Write-Downs

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have concluded that giving homeowners a big break on their mortgages would make good financial sense in many cases, NPR and ProPublica have learned.

Fannie, Freddie Consider Mortgage Write-Downs

Listen · 5:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149166144/149204398" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Obama Returns To Oklahoma Talking Oil

President Obama announces support for building an oil pipeline from Oklahoma to Texas, Thursday in Cushing, Okla. Tom Pennington/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Tom Pennington/Getty Images

It's All Politics

Obama Returns To Oklahoma Talking Oil

President Obama visited Oklahoma for the first time since taking office and announced an executive order to speed up review of a U.S.-only portion of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. His announcement came as Republicans criticized his administration over rising gas prices.

A Clean Sweep For Your Finances

For many people, the arrival of Spring might mean cleaning out closets, the garage or the basement. But life coach and expert organizer Gail Blanke says the new season is a great time to tidy up your finances. Host Michel Martin speaks with Blanke about spring cleaning your financial life, which she says might also help get other parts of your life in order.

A Clean Sweep For Your Finances

Listen · 7:36
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149146458/149146426" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Airlines, Fliers Seek To Fit More In Overhead

International airline travelers wait for their luggage at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Business

Airlines, Fliers Seek To Fit More In Overhead

Airline passengers don't like baggage fees. To avoid them, they often haul as much carry-on luggage onto the plane as they can manage. Airlines aren't backing down on the fees, but they are expanding their overhead bins to acknowledge the new reality.

Airlines, Fliers Seek To Fit More In Overhead

Listen · 3:51
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149011706/149126002" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Are High Gas Prices A Plot To Cut Consumption? GOP Says Yes

A driver pumps gas into his Toyota Prius hybrid at a gas station in Sunnyvale, Calif., in 2007. Paul Sakuma/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Paul Sakuma/AP

It's All Politics

Are High Gas Prices A Plot To Cut Consumption? GOP Says Yes

Republicans are attacking President Obama and his team for allegedly saying they wanted energy prices to go up. The president scoffs at the charge. But some environmentalists say higher energy prices would be a good thing because they would spur the development of alternative technologies.

Are High Gas Prices A Plot To Cut Consumption? GOP Says Yes

Listen · 3:44
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/149080346/149091122" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday