Fri, August 07, 2009
For several years Massachusetts, like many states, has had a summer tax holiday weekend – sort of like Christmas in August. This year, the Grinch has come to the Bay State. Read the full article
Wed, August 05, 2009
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), of which I’m a member, is launching a free consumer education webinar series this week. Read the full article
Wed, August 05, 2009
Probably we could have avoided last year’s economic crisis if only everyone had watched Saturday Night Live a few years ago. Read the full article
Thu, July 30, 2009
I can’t say I’m very surprised by this: the IRS is reporting its first prosecution of a fraud scheme involving the new $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit.
Read the full article
Tue, July 28, 2009
As I noted about a month ago, FINRA has drawn attention to the fact that leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds are often not appropriate for retail investors. In response, some prominent broker/dealer firms have announced that they are backing away from the sale of such ETFs Read the full article
Mon, July 27, 2009
Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research recently released a brief that examines whether people nearing retirement should pay down their mortgages.
Read the full article
Thu, July 23, 2009
When I moved to Boston, I was surprised to discover that despite the severity of New England winters, ice cream is a regional obsession. Here’s a useful resource for finding the area’s finest ice creameries as you travel this summer. Read the full article
Tue, July 21, 2009
The IRS is drawing attention to the fact that the cost of sending your children to a summer day camp can qualify you for lower taxes via the child care tax credit. Read the full article
Thu, July 16, 2009
As more attention is focused on to the risks of leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), regulators are starting to investigate how they’re being sold to retail investors. Read the full article
Tue, July 14, 2009
New social media, like many relatively recent offspring of the internet, are in some ways an invention in search of a need. One thing that social media can be useful for is as a means to support and encourage your favorite charities. Read the full article
Fri, July 10, 2009
Although I’m not a true “foodie,” I do enjoy a good meal. I enjoy saving money, too. Restaurant Week enables me to do both simultaneously. Now in its ninth year in Boston, Restaurant Week offers an opportunity for locals to sample the offerings of pricey restaurants at a discount. Moreover, there are Restaurant Weeks in other cities. Read the full article
Mon, July 06, 2009
Several weeks ago I found time to read Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Fooled By Randomness. This book, entertaining and eminently readable, is something between a memoir and a treatise on the pervasive human tendency to discern patterns in places where they don't actually exist. Among many examples, he shows how easy it is to mistake a lucky idiot for a skilled investment manager. Read the full article
Tue, June 30, 2009
I noted last week that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has warned brokers that inverse and leveraged ETFs are inappropriate for many retail investors. Having discussed the workings and problems of inverse ETFs, I’d like to continue by taking a look at leveraged exchange-traded funds. Read the full article
Sun, June 28, 2009
The Financial Times reported yesterday on a United Kingdom Financial Services Authority ruling that will eliminate commissions paid by fund managers and life insurance companies to financial advisors. Read the full article
Fri, June 26, 2009
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently notified brokers who sell complex Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) that “inverse and leveraged ETFs typically are not suitable for retail investors who plan to hold them for more than one trading session.” The warning is long overdue, as leveraged ETFs were first introduced in 2006 after three years of SEC review.
Read the full article
Tue, June 23, 2009
Although early summer in the Boston area has been unseasonably cool, it probably won’t stay that way. Coupled with some of the highest electrical rates in the nation, warm weather provides plenty of motivation for energy conservation. Here are some suggestions for cutting your electric bill during the summer. Read the full article
Thu, June 18, 2009
Yesterday I noted that the Treasury Department has posted the Obama administration's proposals for financial regulatory reform. In the midst of all the information that's there, I missed an important detail. The administration's white paper, Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation, calls for the fiduciary standard to be applied to broker-dealers. This would be a landmark change from current practice.
Read the full article
Thu, June 18, 2009
Yesterday the Brookings Institution released a report evaluating the effect of the Great Recession on employment and other economic indicators in the nation’s 100 largest cities. Even with a below-average showing for housing prices, Boston's economy doesn't look so bad in comparison to many other cities.
Read the full article
Thu, June 18, 2009
At the height of the credit market crisis last year, there were loud calls for dramatic changes in the regulation of financial institutions. Now that the sturm und drang has ceased, the reforms that will be realized will be much tamer. Read the full article
Wed, June 17, 2009
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report today on changes in New England region prices for May 2009. Read the full article
Mon, June 15, 2009
The IRS announced last week that its interpretation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is that new car buyers in states without a sales tax deserve a break this year.
Read the full article
Fri, June 12, 2009
The Federal Reserve Bank’s “Beige Book,” issued eight times a year, was released this week. The outlook for New England is uncertain, with few bright spots. Read the full article
Thu, June 11, 2009
Today I’m going to tell you something to cross off your list of criteria when trying to choose a financial planner, physician, or lawyer: inclusion in one of the Consumer’s Research Council of America's so-called guides. Read the full article
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