Ideas to help preserve and grow your money
An article from the Financial Times by Dr. Lawrence Summers The central irony of the financial crisis is that while it is caused by too much confidence, too much borrowing and lending and too much spending, it can only be resolved with more confidence, more borrowing and lending, and more spending. Most policy failures in …
Continue reading Why the housing burden stalls America’s economic recovery
Some time ago I posted an article called Cognitive Dissonance. It put me in mind of something that frustrates me. I’m where I am in life and perhaps you are where you are as a result of forces in this country that created what we think of as the ‘great middle class’. You know these …
By William H. Byrnes, Esq., Robert Bloink, Esq., LL.M. (A quick note: For those not already in the know, “Crummey" refers to a tax court case. The "powers" granted as a result of the ruling allows a person to effectively transfer meaningful amounts of one’s assets downstream to the next generations without causing you to …
The bond market indicator that has predicted every U.S. recession since 1970 shows that the economy has about a 60 percent chance of contracting within 12 months. The so-called Treasury yield curve, adjusted for distortions caused by the Federal Reserve’s record low zero to 0.25 percent target interest rate for overnight loans between banks, shows …
It's the question every Boomer needs to answer. Rich or poor. Whether you'll need Social Security to make ends meet or whether you intend to use it to fund an investment program for yourself or, say, your grandkids' education. Or anything else in between. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is complicated. The accumulation phase …
Continue reading “When Should I File for Social Security Benefits?”
By Glenn Ruffenach When it comes to retirement planning, women need to “out-plan” men. That’s the lesson at the heart of a new report from the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University. The study asserts that women – given the unique financial risks they face during their working years …
Continue reading Women Live Longer, But Aren’t Planning Longer
After you reach age 70½, you must start withdrawing money from your account. Here's what you need to know. It’s the time of year when I start receiving questions about required minimum distributions from IRAs and other retirement-savings plans. Generally, you must take distributions every year after you reach age 70½. Here are some of …
With the economy in the doldrums and the long-term outlook for the US stock market looking more restrained than it has in the recent past, parents and grandparents are asking my advice about the problems associated with paying for their children’s college education. Fueled by a sense of desperation brought on by skyrocketing college costs, …
Yesterday I found article on the web version of Financial Planning magazine. In it the authors extolled the steps they thought Steve Jobs had taken regarding his estate to minimize the estate tax bills that will eventually come due. They never said what his estimated estate might have been but did suggest that the tax …
You might easily wonder why I give a damn. Well, what goes on in the Middle East influences the price of gasoline, influences how much money we spend on the military, which in turn influences our ability to balance our economy and move out of the economic doldrums. Tom Barnet cites an article from the …
Helping Define Your Financial Future 