As the wild stock market gyrations continue, investors are reawakening to the performance benchmarks of their mutual funds to see if their fund choices are at least doing better than the market indexes. With most actively managed mutual funds underperforming the current market, investors are, once again, feverishly moving their funds out of stock funds [...]
Continue Reading →Credit card vs debit card which do you think is the smartest choice? Ever since the financial crisis, consumers have turned over a new leaf with regards to their use of credit, which is why debit card usage has skyrocketed in the last few years. For many people it was out of necessity, as their credit [...]
Continue Reading →The other night I had the occasion to watch the 2009 film, State of Play, starring Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe. Billed as a political thriller wrapped around government and corporate conspiracies, most of the attention is given to the intense and convoluted plotline that strings together seemingly unconnected murders, political ambition, government/corporate collusion and [...]
Continue Reading →You may be used to receiving credit card offers in the mail, but if you receive a letter from Union Workers Credit Services inviting you to join their membership plan, shred it immediately and warn your family and friends to do the same. When I received my own offer in the mail, I couldn’t believe [...]
Continue Reading →I have a confession to make. I’m a coupon clipper, but it hasn’t led to extreme couponing, yet. My friends and family know that I’m a proud coupon clipper, and because I’m not shy about sharing my shopping exploits, they know that I’m pretty good at it. Based on a typical family budget, I should [...]
Continue Reading →This bear market is like we are sailing right into the midst of a perfect storm: Deadly turmoil in Mid East and North Africa, cataclysmic events in Japan, the Eurozone on the brink, and we’re staring into the teeth of our fiscal meltdown right here at home. Just when investors were beginning to feel good enough [...]
Continue Reading →Reach your fitness goals without paying for a gym. For the first time in many years I didn’t have as one of my New Year’s resolutions to “join a gym” or to “get in shape.” For at least 15 years running, those were among my top one or two resolutions because I, like so many other [...]
Continue Reading →It’s the start of a New Year which always brings optimism and promise, especially after a rather dismal year in 2011. You could say that, in 2012, we have nowhere to go but up. We’ve all learned to lower our expectations and find gratitude in the smallest of life’s victories. Don’t get me wrong. I [...]
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 →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 →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 →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 [...]
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