After almost a decade, Americans may finally be turning the corner on saving money. More than 30 percent of them say they have enough tucked away to cover six months’ worth of expenses — a seven-year high for this measure of financial calamity preparedness, a financial planning favorite.

With graduation gifts, it’s the thought that counts. The cash is nice, too. 

Californians are very generous. They donate about 2 percent of their income to charity, which amounted to more than $26 billion in 2013, according to the Urban Institute’s analysis of data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics. If you plan to support your favorite causes this year, consider these simple, tax-smart strategies that help your charitable dollars have more impact.

From police shootings to incidents like the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting, gun violence has been dominating news cycles in recent years. Additional virtual training could help civilians know how to respond in a hostile encounter.

Jason Fountaine, managing director of Gyro-Stabilized Systems in Nevada City, offers his insight into how new technologies are changing digital cinema.  For more from Fountaine, read “Reality Check,” in our March issue. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you when it’s available online.

Are millions of Americans just forgetting to file their taxes this year?

A key Republican Senator is casting doubt on hopes for quick action to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act or overhaul the U.S. mortgage-finance system, citing the need for bipartisan support in a Congress that seems to be far from providing it.

It seems 39 percent of millennials would rather disclose a preexisting sexually transmitted disease to a potential partner than reveal their debt, according to a survey of 2,000 millennials SoFi conducted, using online poller Survey Monkey. In addition, the survey found that serious debt was the second-biggest romantic deal-breaker, after workaholism.

Thinking about taking a job at a small company? Don’t expect a good retirement plan.

Last quarter was the slowest three-month period for drug company initial public offerings in four years, according to Bloomberg data. And in all of 2016, only 36 biotech and pharmaceutical companies went public in the U.S., according to data gathered by Bloomberg, compared with 68 in 2015 and a record 85 in 2014.

California will be forced to pay billions more in pension contributions for government employees after the state retirement system’s decision to lower its assumed rate of return.

Wells Fargo’s attempt to force aggrieved customers into closed-door arbitration over its fake-accounts scandal is drawing a legislative backlash in its home state of California and risks subjecting the bank to another round as a public punching bag.

Dayton, Ohio, gave the world the Wright Brothers and the electric cash register. As recently as 1990, manufacturing jobs there were the backbone of the local economy. But in the two decades since, the area has lost thousands of blue-collar jobs, and the local housing market still wears the scars of the foreclosure crisis.

Donald Trump wants American companies to bring trillions of dollars in offshore cash back home, arguing that the money could be used to fund a manufacturing renaissance.

Analysts spent early November warning a Trump victory in the U.S. presidential election would make the Federal Reserve less likely to raise interest rates. What happened instead is that it made a December increase a near certainty.

U.S. banks stocks jumped the most since May, led by regional lenders, on speculation a Trump presidency could usher in reforms that ease regulatory burdens on financial-services firms.

U.S. stocks rallied amid heavy trading and Treasuries tumbled as investors reassessed the effects of Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the American presidential election.

For a sense of how fungible the label “financial adviser” has become, talk to Mike Chamberlain of Chamberlain Financial Planning & Wealth Management, which has an office in Sacramento. “’Financial services industry’ is a very broad term,” he says, “and I don’t like being included in it.

Recently, within the context of being a co-founder and mentor at Roseville’s Glue Factory, an incubator for entrepreneurs willing to give back to the community in exchange for free workspace and guidance, I am often asked about the ins and outs of family and friends investing in a startup company.

Making advance funeral and cemetery arrangements (“preneed”) will provide the most peace of mind for yourself and your family. Much like an advance health directive lays out your wishes while you’re alive, a preneed agreement establishes your wishes afterward.