You’re figuring out how to invest your retirement savings. How many individual stocks do you need to own to have what’s known as a diversified portfolio (the investment equivalent of not having too many eggs in one basket?

a. 15

b. 30

c. 55

d. 110

d. A 2014 study found you need at least 110 stocks for maximal safety. Buying broad-market mutual funds is an easier way to diversify.

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according to a recent AARP Foundation survey, what percentage of people who had been direct sellers for a multi-level marketing company said they lost money as a result?

a. 27 percent

b. 37 percent

c. 47 percent

c. Twenty-seven percent said they broke even, and 25 percent said they made money.

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Which of these activities leads to more home fires in the United States?

a. Cooking

B. Smoking

a. Smoking causes the most home-fire deaths, but cooking fires, which do an average of $6,600 in damage, are the most common home fires, reports the National Fire Protection Association. About a third of cooking fires get started when no one is in the kitchen.

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At your local bank you have a $300,000 joint account with your spouse, $100,000 in CD’s in your name only, and in a safe deposit box, $50,000 in cash. A meteorite obliterates the bank, which fails. How much will the federal Deposit Insurance Corp. give you and your spouse?

a. $250,000

b. $350,000

c. $400,000

d. $450,000

c. The FDIC insures up tp $250,000 per person per account type. So your $100,000 in CD’s are covered, as are both your and your spouse’s $150,000 portions of the joint account (since each portion is insured up to $250,000). The FDIC, though, doesn’t cover contents of safe deposit boxes.

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A mutual fund that you hold drops in value of by 20 percent. How much will it have to increase in value to return to its original price?

a. 15 percent

b. 20 percent

c. 25 percent

c. Say shares cost $100. After falling 20 percent, they’re worth $80. The $20 required to reach $100 is one-fourth of $80, or 25 percent.

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Which of these two events has a greater chance of occurring: You win a $50,000 Powerball payout after buying one ticket, or you get struck by lightning sometime in the next year.

a. You will $50,000

b. You get struck by lightning

a. Congrats! The chances of being hit by lightning are 1 in 1.2 million, but your chances of winning $50,000 at Powerball are better. Sadly, you have only a 1-in 292-million shot at the jackpot.

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Much more Online…

For more free stuff, go to aarp.org/freestuff.

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Repairs

At Repair Cafe events – held nationwide. usually about once a month- volunteer coaches help you fix small appliances, lamps or whatever else you can carry in. Find events at RepairCafe.org/en/visit. Can’t wait? Get free expert advice for fixing just about anything at Fixya.com.

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Odds and ends

The Freecycle Network is a grassroots nonprofit movement providing a forum for giving and receiving free stuff in cities and neighborhoods across the country. Try Freecycle.org to locate a group near you. You can also get items for your home and garden on Craigslist; search for “free stuff.”

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Phone and internet

Folks with low incomes can get help paying for cellphone or landline service, as well as broadband, under a Federal Communications Commission program. The benefit is $9.25 per month toward your monthly bill. To check if you qualify, go to LifelineSupport.org.

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