You might remember stock splits from Back in the Day, when we listened to compact disks and received bills by mail. It's that accounting device where a corporate board decides to turn your 100 shares of a $200 stock into, say, 400 shares of $50 stock. It is done, in part, as an expression of confidence that share prices will continue to rise in the future.

You can be excused for circling Memorial Day on your calender, but the financial services industry wants you to know that today is also special but in a different way: it's 529 Day in many states today. Some in the industry may be content that you simply know what a 529 College Savings plan is: According to a recent poll commissioned by brokerage Edward Jones, two-thirds of those surveyed had no idea.

Headed into the Memorial Day holiday, stocks, as measured by the Standard & Poor's 500 index, have returned more than 17 percent to investors in 2013. And consumer confidence is finally ticking upward as well. The Consumer Reports Index is sharply higher this month, and is now at a level not seen since 2008. Other confidence indexes show an increase as well, but far from the giddy levels of 1999 and 2000.

Recently we asked debt-management experts for their best tips on handling debt. Several are certified credit counselors in agencies connected with the nonprofit National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), a group that offers free or low-cost help. Our tips will help you pare down what you owe.

Even if you waited till the last minute to file your taxes, if you're entitled to a refund you can still purchase savings bonds that earn more than a savings account at your bank or credit union. Even better, those bonds automatically keep up with inflation.

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.

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?

The sentencing yesterday of $7 billion Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford, on the eve of Elder Abuse Awareness Day, was a useful reminder that the elderly are not the only victims of financial shenanigans.

If you think your employer knows more about your 401(k) plan's fees than you do, think again. Sponsors of some 401(k) plans don't understand the fees they're paying toward plan administration, says a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The GAO reported on one case, in fact, where a relatively large plan underestimated its recordkeeping costs by $58,000. And more than 90 percent of plan sponsors don't use free tools the government supplies to help compare costs among 401(k) plan providers, the report says.

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action to stop a telemarketing operation that in the past two years, took in almost $9 million from senior citizens by getting them to buy precious metals on credit, according to the FTC.

Despite understanding the importance of planning for retirement, most younger investors have yet to develop a detailed plan for their finances in retirement, according to new research by T. Rowe Price.

Even though the majority of small-business owners are concerned about their financial security in retirement, many have not estimated how much they will need, according to new research from The American College.

Asset Acceptance, one of the largest consumer debt buyers in the U.S., will pay a $2.5 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it made a range of misrepresentations in attempts to collect old debts.

Personal finance author and CNBC television host Suze Orman stopped by the Consumer Reports headquarters in Yonkers, NY recently, for a town hall meeting with the staff. She offered some of the following advice in answer to questions.

Of those Americans considering a financial resolution for the new year, 46 percent say they want to save more in 2012, with a median annual target of $2,400, doubling last year’s resolution to save $1,200, according to an annual survey by Fidelity Investments.