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For a story that will run in MONEY's January/February 2011 issue, the magazine will be pairing five different families with a financial planner for a free portfolio makeover. In each case, a professional adviser will suggest a new investment plan tailored to the family's goals and financial situation, and be able to address other financial concerns.

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New 401(k) tax break is just around the corner

People with 401(k) plans got a nice tax break last month, but they'll have to wait for some red tape to be cleared out of the way before they can actually take advantage of it.

Thanks to a provision in the Small Business Jobs Act, which President Obama signed into law last month, 401(k) plan participants will be permitted to roll their accounts over into Roth 401(k)s. MORE

Fight private-college tuition inflation

Let's say you're among the 76% of parents recently surveyed by Gallup/Sallie Mae who don't plan to tap your retirement savings to pay for college. The rising cost of tuition is still a big concern, especially if you're considering a private institution.

In that case, you might want to take a fresh look at the recently renamed Private College 529 Plan, which lets parents pre-pay the tuition at more than 270 MORE

Toxic-drywall homeowners get tax relief

Making a bad situation worse for people already hit by the real estate downturn, thousands of Americans are facing the possibility that their homes are the equivalent of toxic-waste dumps. But while the IRS doesn't usually spring to mind as an organization that comforts the afflicted, the agency recently took action to provide a measure of help to these taxpayers.

Six-figure women on the rise...So?

The number of working women earning six-figure salaries is climbing at an impressive rate. But once you get out of that rarefied atmosphere, women, whether in the workforce or retired from it, still have a lot of catching up to do.

Premium hikes loom for long-term care insurance

One of the nation's largest providers of long-term care insurance is planning to raise premiums an average of 40% next year — a move that revives the longstanding question of whether the pitfalls of buying a long-term care policy outweigh the payoffs.

John Hancock — which, boasting more than a million LTC insurance clients, says it's the largest provider of employer-sponsored group LTC insurance in the country, and one of the MORE

Don't be fooled by credit score inflation

Have a 900 credit score? Before you lord it over your friend who can only claim a mere 750, make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

In the September issue of MONEY, I  wrote "The quest for the perfect credit score," which chronicled the efforts of three people reaching for a perfect 850 credit score.

Since then, I've received letters from several readers who seem to have these credit score superstars beat. MORE

Find your missing money — cheaply and easily

It has a whiff of buried treasure about it: Somewhere out there are billions of dollars in unclaimed funds just waiting to be unearthed. And part of that money might be yours.

State treasuries and other agencies are holding some $32.8 billion in unclaimed assets, including bank accounts, pensions, savings bonds, CDs, escrow accounts, insurance checks, 401(k) funds and more.