Having a hard time understanding all the discussion of the Federal Budget deficit? The Congressional Budget Office has a nice infographic of Federal spending, revenues, and the deficit. Read the full article

In the midst of gripping near-term news of deficits and economic crises, taxpayers may not be aware that a looming tax on investment income will begin to nick higher-income earners starting in 2013. Read the full article

For the foreseeable future, a number of tax credits for home energy efficiency improvements will go away at the end of 2011. Here are some credits that apply to improvements made to a taxpayer’s principal residence. Read the full article

Now that the Congressional Super-Committee’s attempts to produce deficit cuts have failed, the Budget Control Act calls for specific budget cuts that commence in January 2013. If this actually comes to pass, the resulting defense-related cuts would have a significant impact in Massachusetts and elsewhere. Read the full article

I was unable to attend last week’s New England Economic Partnership conference, but it sounds like it was a fairly somber gathering. Read the full article

Now that the Congressional Super-Committee has thrown in the towel, the automatic spending cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 are set to kick in unless Congress gets its act together. Read the full article

There are no guaranteed investments, but the employer matching contribution comes awfully close. Why are so many workers passing up the opportunity to get free money? Read the full article

As the end of the year approaches, mutual fund owners may benefit from examining their holdings and considering some timely sales. Read the full article

As the Congressional Supercommittee considers ways to cut the federal deficit, one element of their proposal might be a change in retirement savings tax policy. Read the full article

Citing negative feedback from customers, Bank of America has done a complete about-face from its plan to charge most customers a $5-a-month debit card usage fee starting next year. Read the full article

Earlier this week I noted that it's getting harder to find banks that don't charge for checking accounts. Here are the names of several MA banks that still offer full-service checking accounts for free. Read the full article

According to a recent AARP poll, 71% of 401(k) plan participants believe that they don’t pay any fees in their company’s plan. In fact, most do, but the fees are not disclosed or are so deeply buried in plan reports that most employees are blissfully unaware of what the actual costs are. New Labor Department regulations will change that next year. Read the full article

A number of banks are developing annoying new checking account fees. What’s a consumer to do? Read the full article

In response to increases in the cost-of-living index, the IRS announced today that adjustments that will be made to contribution limits for some types of retirement plans. Read the full article

The Social Security Administration announced yesterday that there will be a cost-of-living increase in monthly Social Security benefit checks next year. There were no increases in 2010 and 2011 because the cost of living calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics hasn’t increased since the third quarter of 2008.

Starting in January of 2012, Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 3.6 percent benefit increase, and SSI benefits will increase similarly on December 30, 2011. Read the full article

Quite a few taxpayers did Roth conversions last year, taking advantage of the change in conversion eligibility rules. But for some of them, now might be the time for a do-over. Read the full article

It’s unclear whether significant tax reforms will be enacted for 2012, so year-end planning could be tricky this year. Still, there are some tax strategies that should at least be examined for possible implementation before 2011 ends. Read the full article

For most Americans, the European Debt Crisis is anything but riveting. Sure, Wall Street has been bouncing up and down in response to news about the Euro bailout fund, but Greek sovereign debt is a pretty esoteric subject for almost everyone else. Yet the cover of this week’s Economist magazine advises, “be afraid.” What are they worried about? Read the full article

The November Journal of Marketing Research focuses on research into the ways that consumers make financial decisions. One of the papers describes a potentially useful tool for encouraging young people to save for retirement. Read the full article

Michael Cembalest, Chief Investment Officer at investment bank JPMorgan, has done the world a service by publishing a graphic view of the European Crisis, courtesy of his 9-year-old son.

The financial press is buzzing with rumors that the Federal Reserve will try to boost economic activity by revisiting actions it took in 1961. At the time, the move was known as “Operation Twist.” Read the full article

An important aspect of Roth and traditional IRAs is that they can be inherited, with potential benefits for the heir(s). However, there are some myths afloat about inherited IRAs that need to be sunk. Read the full article

The IRS has announced that in addition to relief already announced for taxpayers in Federal disaster areas, it is giving a one-week extension of the September 15th filing deadline to taxpayers whose preparers are located in areas that were under a severe weather warnings or an evacuation order as a result of Hurricane Irene. Read the full article

Today’s earthquake centered near Mineral, Virginia caught New Englanders by surprise as its shock wave rumbled through the area. Although we tend to think of earthquakes as a west coast phenomenon, today’s tremor reminded easterners that we get them sometimes too. How much does a standard homeowner’s policy cover in the event of an earthquake? Read the full article

This week, a friend expressed concern to me about the safety of his bank. So today I'm addressing two questions: how can you find out whether your bank is in good financial shape, and just how strong is the FDIC's insurance fund? Read the full article

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