Older Marrieds Nobody seems to have a good explanation for it, but American adults are increasingly delaying marriage. According to the most recent population survey by the U.S. Census bureau, the median age at first marriage in the U.S. is now nearing age 30—29.8 for men and 27.8 for women. That’s up from 27.1 and […]
Independence Day Very quietly, the United States economy crossed a remarkable milestone. As of October, America is now energy-independent for the first time. For comparison purposes, the U.S. was spending a whopping 4% of its total gross domestic product to buy foreign oil and gas as recently as 2008. This news will not be cheered […]
Tax Opportunities Before Year-End Every year, U.S. taxpayers face a number of year-end deadlines which, if ignored, can be costly and even punitive. In the latter category, consider people over age 70 1/2 who forget to take the full required minimum distribution from their IRA or 401(k). If they get the calculation wrong, or […]
Flexible Powers When a person comes down with any of various forms of dementia, it means he or she requires additional amounts of care. It also means eventually taking away the checkbook and access to credit cards, to prevent the person with diminishing capacity from responding to Nigerian email pitches or late night infomercials. For […]
You may have read that there has been a drop in new home sales—down 13% in September compared to the previous September—and that, combined with the drop in stock market values, might have you worried about the state of the U.S. economy.
Beware the Bears If you’ve been paying attention to the financial news lately, you’re probably seeing a lot of ominous predictions—and they’re usually backed up by some ominous headline. The most simplistic are saying that the bull market has now lasted ten years, so therefore it’s about to come to an end—as if bull markets […]
Withholding Tempest in a Teapot Chances are, you’ve read an article recently telling you to be careful about the withholding in your paycheck, to make sure your employer (assuming you have one) is taking out enough money so that you won’t have a big tax obligation come April. This is the result of a big […]
No End Run By now, you probably know all about the so-called SALT (state and local tax) deduction limitations imposed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If your property, local and state taxes exceed $10,000 (couples) or $5,000 (singles), well, too bad. That’s all you can deduct on your federal tax returns. Some of […]
Savings Bonds Redux Remember savings bonds? Ask anybody who was around during or in the years right after World War II, and they’ll have fond memories of buying a savings bond for $25 for a child or grandchild, and five years later the bond would be worth $50. For people of a certain age, it […]
