When the Consumer Reports Index reported recently that Americans are feeling significantly better about their personal finances, I could definitely agree. My husband recently found a new job after an uncomfortable stretch of underemployment.

I recently gave our house a top-to-bottom spring cleaning. My takeaway, besides sore muscles, was the realization that we have a lot of stuff we no longer use or want to clean. Among our collection are a dated Sony Trinitron TV and a tired iMac G3 computer, inherited collectibles that just aren't our style, unneeded furniture in the basement, clothing that no longer fits . . . you get the idea. We haven't yet figured out to do with all those things.

This spring's floods in the Midwest, against the backdrop of Hurricane Sandy's six-month anniversary, underline why a purchasing a national flood insurance policy can be so crucial regardless of where you live.

Q: My husband and I are ready to start investing in a 529 college savings plan for our child. Do you recommend that we go with the one offered by the state where we live, New York, or choose the best performer from another state?—A.D., Eastchester, N.Y.

Q: I need information or reviews about trustworthy debt consolidators. Can you point me in the right direction? —J.L., via e-mail

Sheryl Sandberg's controversial memoir and handbook for career women, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, argues that women can and should act more aggressively and proactively in the workplace to achieve the positions they deserve. Her philosophy resonates with me in another sphere of women's lives: Saving and investing money.

A New York appellate court's decision today to uphold most of the 2009 conviction counts against Anthony D. Marshall, charged with defrauding his mother, the late philanthropist Brooke Astor, calls attention to a crime that's growing nationwide: financial elder abuse.

The household bills and babysitter are paid. Food's in the fridge. So what's the smartest way to allocate the dollars left for savings?

Parents need life insurance for one reason: To provide income for your family if you die. As young parents on a budget, you'll be wasting money if you try to use a life insurance policy as an investment. There are better ways to grow your nest egg.

An episode of "Dr. Phil" this week that focused on elder abuse—both financial and physical—struck a chord with a number of people, if the show's comments section is any indication. Numerous commenters reported abuse of their own parents by professionals in nursing-home settings and by relatives in the elderly people's own homes.

Finovate Fall 2012's afternoon session today included free e-solutions to two widespread needs that don't get much attention: Managing college loans and helping loved ones--and others--who need extra funds to pay their own bills.

What's fascinating about Finovate Fall, the financial technology showcase presented in New York each year, is how the innovations it features reflect what 's newsworthy and worry-worthy among companies and consumers.

Every year Finovate Fall, the financial-technology showcase held in New York City, features a number of new and/or improved web-based services and apps intended to help consumers handle their finances, and to help companies handle their consumers.

We've often advised folks on dealing most effectively with their banks. Sometimes the answer is to just flee. But I suspect there are a number of consumers who've avoided that avenue because of the perceived hassles of setting up automated bill-paying all over again. Today at Finovate Fall, the New York-based showcase of online and mobile innovations for the financial industry, I saw what appears to be a painless solution.

Retail suffered as consumers faced a sharp rise in financial woes and a weak employment outlook, according to the Consumer Reports Index, a measure of Americans' personal financial health, which saw significant drops in consumer sentiment that were reinforced by a sharp jump in personal financial troubles over the past 30 days.