The New Tax Legislation Chances are, you’ve heard that tax “reform” is right around the corner—that is, if you can call it “reform” when hundreds or perhaps thousands of new pages are about to be added to the tax code. First, the White House released its tax legislation wish list. Now the Republicans in the […]
Savings Rates Decline You don’t hear much about America’s personal savings rate these days, and the reason may be because the news is discouraging: collectively, the percentage of our income that we save is trending downward again, and may be about to hit record lows. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis tracks the U.S. […]
The Antisocial Side of Social Media Have you ever wondered whether social media was having a positive or negative impact on our mental well-being? The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a warning about the negative effects of social media on young kids and teens, and of course it mentions cyber-bullying. But it notes that […]
The Economic Myth-Destroyer Gets His Due Imagine a person who always, in every circumstance, makes rational decisions with his money. He saves when he ought to and spends exactly as he should spend, in order to maximize the “utility” of whatever wealth he happens to possess. He defers gratification with ease. When he invests, he […]
How Do You Stop Yourself from Overspending? The urge to splurge is one of the toughest challenges to a monthly budget, and leads to unhappy encounters with the credit card statement. But psychologists say there are solutions for the chronic overspender. The first thing to understand is that overspending is viewed as a way to […]
The Cost of Pets What does it really cost to own a pet? More than non-pet-owners probably realize, although if you do own a dog, cat or fish, you probably have a good idea that they’re not cheap. Start with the initial expenses. You can bring home a rescue pet—not just dogs and cats but […]
Tax Reform—or Not? You can be forgiven if you’re skeptical that Congress will be able to completely overhaul our tax system after failing to overhaul our health care system, but professional advisors are studying the newly-released nine-page proposal closely nonetheless. We only have the bare outlines of what the initial plan might look like before […]
Don’t Miss Open Enrollment Each year, the Affordable Care Act—popularly known as Obamacare—creates a period when health insurance policyholders can buy or change their coverage through state exchanges or the government website. This year, many locations will feature fewer carriers bidding for your business, but virtually every county in America still has coverage options. But […]
2017 Third Quarter Report The last few years of a bull market are always a bit of a mystery to professional investors; the market rises faster than it did in the early, cautious years when nobody believed there WAS a bull market, even though there appear to be fewer fundamental or economic reasons for […]
