Articles

Usually I do not feel sorry for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but this time I do.  The IRS has instituted a new matching program to reconcile the cost basis on 1099s. ...

Many Americans make contributions to Section 529 plans to help their children or (more often) their grandchildren pay for their college education. The average balance in these plans today is a record $17,174 according to The College Savings Plans Network, and the total dollars is close to $200 billion…

You’ve probably read that the city of Detroit has filed for bankruptcy protection. If you’re like most Americans, you assumed that this is because the city has been declining, economically for decades…

There is an old saying that revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, we are now witnessing the effects of the IRS scandal concerning conservative groups (read Republican)....

Chances are, there was a lot you didn’t know about finances when you reached adulthood. Your ignorance may have cost you money in the form of an overdrawn checking account where the bank gleefully heaped on additional fees, or credit card debt at interest rates that would have qualified as criminal usury in the Middle Ages…

The recent turmoil in the investment markets might cause one to think that people have lost money this year in U.S. stocks. But in fact, most of the U.S. indices are sitting on double-digit gains, and the second quarter actually added to those gains…

Congress failed to reach an agreement to keep the rates on federally subsidized loans at 3.4%, causing rates to double effective July 1st.  While this is unlikely to impact...

Right now, Japan is the most interesting and entertaining market in the world. Its market has risen more than 80% since last November, after newly-elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to end two decades of crippling deflation with a doubling of the monetary base, American-style QE fiscal stimulus and structural economic reforms including deregulation of key markets and corporate tax cuts…

There are two kinds of investor in this world. One type pays close attention to the daily (and sometimes hourly) flood of information, looking for a reason (any reason) to jump in or out of the markets…

Politics, not schools are ruining the US competitive edge in technology. Wherever we go we hear that the government is committed to maintaining the US competitive edge in...

With the U.S. stock market indices hitting record highs seemingly on a daily basis, it's easy to wonder if we're experiencing a market bubble that is about to burst. ...

Bond prices go up when rates go down, and rates have been doing just that since the Reagan Administration.  Back in 1982, 10-year Treasuries were paying 15%, and after 30...