Kimberly Lankford has more than 25 years of experience as a financial journalist, specializing in translating complex topics into understandable terms and providing actionable advice to help people with their personal finances.
As the “Ask Kim” columnist at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine for two decades, she received hundreds of reader questions every month about insurance, Medicare, taxes, retirement planning and other personal finance issues.
Kim is currently an insurance staff writer at WSJ | Buy Side, where she uses her deep knowledge of insurance to explain how the coverage works, analyze data and provide concrete guidance to help consumers make decisions about life, car, pet and other kinds of insurance.
She has written four personal finance books, including The Insurance Maze, Rescue Your Financial Life, Ask Kim for Money Smart Solutions and the forthcoming Medicare 101 (February 2026, Simon & Schuster’s Adams Media). She also wrote the Financial Field Manual: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Guide for Military Families, which has been reprinted in three editions and is distributed to servicemembers at military bases throughout the world.
Previously, Kim wrote and managed the Medicare Resource Center for AARP.org, where she was responsible for Medicare news and wrote more than 130 Medicare Q&A articles about all aspects of how Medicare works and what it covers. She worked closely with the SEO team to focus on questions readers want to know. She also wrote AARP’s Medicare Enrollment Guide, an interactive guide to enrolling in Medicare.
Kim has written financial articles for the Washington Post, Boston Globe, AARP the Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, PLANSPONSOR, Yahoo Finance, PBS Next Avenue, Military Officer, Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, Bloomberg Wealth Manager and many other publications. She has also written educational materials for FINRA, the CFP Board and the Council on Better Business Bureaus.
She received the personal finance Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for her coverage of the financial impact of Alzheimer’s disease, and she received the New York State Society of CPAs’ Excellence in Financial Journalism Award twice — for her comprehensive guide to Medicare in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and her coverage of financial planning for families who have children with special needs.
Kim has been featured as a financial expert on NBC’s Today Show, CBS This Morning, CNN, CNBC, Fox News, National Public Radio, Marketplace Radio, PBS and many local radio and TV stations. She has been quoted in the New York Times, NBC News, the Washington Post and other publications, and she is a frequent guest on podcasts and webinars.
When she isn’t writing about financial issues, Kim enjoys cooking, spending time at the James River with her family, and paddleboarding with her dog.
