ReservePlus allows people to withdraw funds from their 401(k)s with a kind of debit card. That might sound pretty good, but many experts say it makes borrowing too easy and can put Americans' nest eggs at risk.

These "premium" cards, which tout perks ranging from private jet service to help with your restaurant reservations, are all over the place now.

Borrowing against your nest egg is becoming as easy as stopping at an ATM.

A growing number of companies now offer employees the option of being issued a debit card that taps a 401(k) loan. The card, called ReservePlus, allows workers to withdraw funds from their 401(k)s.

If you want to be wealthy, there is an extremely simple formula that has worked for generations: Live beneath your means and invest the difference.

Let's face it, personal finance isn't nuclear physics.

The basics are so simple that anyone can get the concepts down in less than a day -- spend less than you earn, save and invest the rest.

Lenders keep trying to suck my family into a vortex of debt.

We're standing firm.

The prime rate looks set to keep falling following the Federal Reserve's latest rate cut. Since the consumer credit-card rates are in part measured by the prime rate, consumers might expect to see their rates fall as well.

But a number of common catches can keep your credit-card rate from falling with the prime rate.

In my last column I wrote about my Kafkaesque experience with a collection agency that was trying to shake me down for money I didn't owe. That didn't make me particularly happy, so I want to make life as hard as possible for these debt collectors.

I want to make them fight tooth and nail for every penny they pry out of their victims. I'm happy to help anyone who's being harassed by a collection agency, not out of the kindness of my heart, but because I now have a deep and abiding hatred for debt collectors.

What's your favorite pizza topping?

That's not an idle question when it comes to protecting your identity. In fact, it's one of many security questions now being used by banks to verify your online banking transactions.

When money gets tight and there isn't enough to go around, people sometimes begin to panic when it comes to prioritizing outstanding debts.