MSTARDOM, INC.

It's been more than four years since the financial crisis first knocked you back on your heels. You've probably been on the defensive ever since, doing your best to deflect whatever punches the economy has thrown your way. Of course, the trick to any good rope-a-dope strategy is to sit back and let your opponent tire out before you unleash your own […]

They may dress better than average, but they usually don't invest that way: Last year 79% of large-cap fund managers trailed the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, says Morningstar -- the worst showing since 1997.

The country's new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking aim at big financial firms and small print, while itself enduring fire inside the Beltway.

Lots of Americans these days want something more from a vacation than vegging out on a beach, a mojito close at hand. Some 30% of respondents to a Travel-Ticker.com survey put adventure travel on their 2012 wish list, and spending in the category has been growing 17% a year, even as economic woes slowed leisure travel overall.

If you're like most people, you're inclined to trust your doctor's advice.

This year the end of the holidays probably didn't bring the usual stress relief; there are still worries about unemployment, a flailing housing market, and a volatile stock market, all of which may be taking a toll on your health.

Looking for a steady, long-term investing strategy? Check out the MONEY 70, our recommended list of mutual and exchange-traded funds that will keep your investment on course through 2012 and beyond.

If you have a child headed off to college this fall, you've got an important item on your to-do list: the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which you can submit as early as Jan. 1.

Shaun Donovan is the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As a new manager, you may want to jump into devising a grand strategy to change the business. But don't forget that you have a whole staff to convince before you take a single step forward.

FORTUNE -- Dear Annie: I've been living on my savings and a small inheritance since I lost my job in late 2010 and, while I've kept busy with some consulting projects and volunteer work, I really need to find a full-time position. I keep hearing that tapping my network of professional contacts is a far better approach than responding to ads and, ba […]

My wife and I are almost 50 and just started working again after being out of the job market for two years. Basically we have nothing left. How do we start to build again? -- Tony, Allentown, Penn.

If you still haven't filed your 2008 tax return, you could be missing out on some serious cash.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose for the first time in four weeks, relinquishing its all-time record low amid news that the housing market is showing some signs of improvement.

Over half of all U.S. employees are pessimistic about their long-term finances, and 20% expect never to retire at all. The good news: More employers are trying to help.

Five years after the housing bubble burst, America's wealthiest families are now losing their homes to foreclosure at a faster rate than the rest of the country -- and many of them are doing so voluntarily.

The new consumer bureau said Wednesday that it plans to target a kind of bank fee that makes customers see red: Overdraft protection penalty fees on checking accounts.

They may dress better than average, but they usually don't invest that way: Last year 79% of large-cap fund managers trailed the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, says Morningstar -- the worst showing since 1997.