Over the past few years, municipal bonds may have fallen out of favor due to the fact that, until recently, the returns in the stock and bond markets were generating steady returns. Now, with the market continuing its wild gyrations, and the bond market hanging on the edge of uncertain fed policies, investor attention has [...]
Continue Reading →Federal Budget 2012 Now that the silly payroll tax extension fiasco is over, hopefully Washington can turn to more serious matters like, maybe, passing an actual federal budget 2012? It has been 970 days and counting since our Democratic led Senate has passed a budget. Interestingly, in that time, our President, the executive office of [...]
Continue Reading →We always like to end the year with a note of optimism to spur everyone on to bigger and better things in the coming year. Unfortunately, that is becoming difficult to do. Little has changed in the dour outlook of the economy, and little has been done to change its course much over the coming [...]
Continue Reading →Guess what? It’s cool to be thrifty. Everybody’s doing it, at least according to a U.S.A. Today article that revealed a stunning 70% of Americans are thrift shopping. In the span of the last three years – the heart of the economic downturn – Craigslist.com reported an increase of 2000% in the number of hits on [...]
Continue Reading →Face it, when it comes to auto insurance, your life is reduced to a bunch of statistics and you are nothing more than a risk category to your insurance company. Insurers are in the business of making money, which means they want to pay as little in claims as they have to. The protection of your [...]
Continue Reading →Many consumers choose their banks out of convenience, including the ability to have one stop access to all of their banking needs. While the big banks have always had the edge over their smaller competition, it may surprise you to know that the whole industry is reaching some level of parity. Last week we provided [...]
Continue Reading →When setting up a savings plan, the challenge for most people is determining which savings product to choose. The banks, credit unions, and thrifts are all competing for your savings dollars by offering a cafeteria of savings vehicles with varying features and rates. If you’re saving simply for the sake of saving, then it’s hard [...]
Continue Reading →The strategic default: deadbeats or financial geniuses? The good news in the housing market is that, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans has fallen to 7.99 percent down. That is nearly a half a point from the prior quarter and over a point from the prior year. The bad news [...]
Continue Reading →Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for “green” energy, and a green economy. I would like nothing more than to fry up a batch of fries then pour the residue oil into my biofuel-fed car. I’d put up a wind powered generator if I could because, not only would it power my coffee maker, it [...]
Continue Reading →As the jobs market continues to drag along, millions of people are deciding to go it alone by taking the entrepreneurial plunge. Many are launching starting a new business right from their kitchen table and some are harboring dreams of the “next big thing.” In almost all cases, starting a new business requires some amount [...]
Continue Reading →This generation of parents, who have high hopes of a quality college education for their children, face challenges unlike any faced by generations before them, especially when it comes to saving for college. On the one hand, they helplessly watch as college costs accelerate by as much as 30% per year, and on the other, [...]
Continue Reading →Thinking about changing banks? Take a minute to look and compare the most popular types of banks that offer unique service and features. The major banks have had a rough few years since the financial meltdown, and now it seems as though they are taking it out on us with additional and higher fees. Not [...]
Continue Reading →No matter what type of investor you are, this has been a year which you probably would like to forget. Stock investors have been flung around like a rag doll on a runaway roller coaster, and bond investors are finding it increasingly difficult to capture higher yields. And, if you have your money in savings [...]
Continue Reading →In what could be a major game-changer for both lenders and consumers, CoreLogic Credco, a major financial data aggregator, has just introduced its new CoreScore into the credit score mix. The new score, based on a heap of additional consumer credit and payment activity not previously reported to the credit bureaus, is said to provide [...]
Continue Reading →I’ve always been a Norman Rockwell Christmas traditionalist. I guess that explains my deep compassion for Clark Griswold, the befuddled patriarch in the movie, Christmas Vacation, when he defiantly clings to Christmas Past as the Christmas Present threatens his precious traditions. As a kid, I knew it was a special time when the fresh smell [...]
Continue Reading →My defensive investment strategy for 2012 is to deal with and reduce the market volatility. With the Euro-crisis coming to a head and continuing deadlock on a resolution of our own debt and deficit crisis, uncertainty and volatility will continue to reign in the year ahead. But then, when has there ever been certainty in [...]
Continue Reading →Do you know how to take advantage of 2011 tax deductions before 2012? There is perhaps no busier time of year than the holiday season – holiday shopping and preparations, planning Christmas vacation, closing out year-end business, all while trying to squeeze in as many college football bowl games as is humanly possible. Financial matters [...]
Continue Reading →Don’t tell the 150 million smart phone users, but someone knows every move they make, literally. From their physical location to the exact key strokes they make on their phone, smart phone and credit card users are an open book to their phone carriers, their credit card companies and their banks. And short of tossing [...]
Continue Reading →It’s a sad commentary on human nature that there are so many ways that people can get ripped off these days. The worst part, is that many of the rip offs come in the form of legitimate businesses, products or opportunities that, while not illegal, border on immoral or unethical. There can’t be enough regulations [...]
Continue Reading →The fraud and rip-off brain trust is constantly evolving, innovating and striving to get into your wallet. The Internet is a virtual incubator of diabolical scams ready to be unleashed on a billion people all at once. But the real challenge facing consumers is that most of the scams and rip-offs they encounter are perpetrated [...]
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