Business - Motley Fool

Back when houses were making money hand over fist and everyone looked like a stock market genius, who had time to read all the fine print on that other stuff -- you know, like cell-phone contracts and car lease clauses?

I'm not going to harp on the advantages of having a good credit score. OK, maybe I'll go on a little bit about how stellar credit means paying less interest on loans, qualifying for lower insurance premiums, and sailing through things like landlord and employment background checks. But if the standard spiel hasn't inspired you to spiff up your credit score by now, repetition probably won't work.

The persistence of jokes about women and their affinity for shopping, overuse of credit cards, and general incompetency with money shows that some people still have a ways to go when it comes to believing, deep down, that women are equally competent in the realm of finance. Here are some of the most commonly perpetuated myths about women and money -- and the cold hard facts.

It can be a little daunting to think about all of your major savings goals at one time. There's the massive retirement fund that you want to build and never seems to get big enough. There's the emergency account that should be filled with at least enough money to cover three to six months' worth of expenses. There might even be one or more college funds, assuming college doesn't cost an actual arm and a leg by the time the little tykes grow up. Add it all up, and we're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yikes!

When most people think of charities, they envision a group of people interested in making a difference in a particular aspect of people's lives. One charity may dedicate itself to curing disease or helping the sick, while another might focus on protecting the environment. One group might work with children to help them improve their education, and still another could try to solve the problems that the elderly face. It's easy to categorize different charitable organizations by the mission that they seek to accomplish.

Although "till death do us part" is a solemn vow we take in marriage, expecting we'll live happily ever after with our betrothed, we ought to be adding that to our mortgage contracts too.

Success stories are regular features of our Motley Fool Rule Your Retirement newsletter service, where we share profiles of people who have become financially independent. One of the most remarkable stories we've come across is that of Billy and Akaisha Kaderli. At age 38, they left their fast-track lives and started traveling the world. We caught up with them in Chapala, Mexico. Here, Billy and Akaisha address the recent market volatilities and their affect on your retirement plan.

In recent years, Americans have supersized their homes in ever-increasing numbers. The average American home has doubled in square footage since the 1950s, while family size is down from 3.7 people at the height of the baby boom to just 2.3 members per household. As a result, U.S. homeowners now have roughly three times more living space per person than their grandparents' generation.

Recent events have called to mind the Great Depression and that era's run on bank deposits, which forced many financial institutions to close. Younger investors may remember the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, in which savings institutions were too aggressive in obtaining deposits and making risky loans, forcing many of them to shut down. Numerous small life-insurance companies and other financial institutions have been forced to close due to insolvency.

Something always seems to slip through even the best budgeting net. Either we forget small expenses, or we forget major categories. Automated online money-management software -- such as what Motley Fool partner Mint.com offers -- makes tracking down your dollars a lot easier. As you take a closer peek, let's also look at some places your money may be going when it disappears like the socks in the dryer.

Humans are programmed for self-preservation. Ironically, that doesn't mean we're instinctively inclined toward wealth preservation.

Acronyms and other abbreviations are supposed to make long phrases easier to say and remember. But in the financial world, they can also make questionable credentials look all too legitimate. There are all sorts of folks out there who want to manage your money, some of them better qualified than others. Do your due diligence by finding out who's managing yours.