Category Archives: Financial Planning, Wealth
If you or your aging parents are considering a reverse mortgage, you’ll be happy to learn that the choices are expanding. Reports the Wall St Journal Now, nearly a dozen large banks and mortgage lenders have launched reverse-mortgage products with lower fees and larger payouts. One lender has reduced the minimum age requirement to 60; [...]
A recent study finds that family businesses are increasingly led by women and expect robust growth, yet many will likely face financial problems because they have not prepared for managerial and ownership succession, nor have they prepared an personal estate plan. Family businesses, increasingly led by women, need succession and financial planning.
Robert Samuelson writes on the supremacy of culture in overcoming poverty in The Global Poverty Trap. Comes now Gregory Clark, an economist who interestingly takes the side of culture. In an important new book, ” A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World,” Clark suggests that much of the world’s remaining poverty [...]
The greatest source of a country’s wealth is intangible concludes the World Bank. Ronald Bailey dove deeply into the World Bank’s publication entitled Where is the Wealth of Nations? Measuring Capital for the 21st Century to deliver The Secrets of Intangible Wealth in the Wall St. Journal. We are all familiar with natural capital those [...]
You already know that you should check your credit score at least once a year so that you can correct mistakes. What you probably didn’t know is that your medical records could contain errors that should be corrected. Incorrect medical information can lead to ineffective or harmful treatment and affect your insurability The Wall [...]
We trust people who are just like us more than we trust companies, institutions or the government. So, it was only a matter of time before social networking took on a financial cast with websites that let people compare saving strategies or trade financial advice. I haven’t checked any of these sites yet, but I [...]
Todd Zywicki analyzes the two-income trap hypothesis. Comparing a typical family with one wage earner in 1973 with a typical family with two wage earners in the 2000s, he finds that the second wage earner pushes the family into a higher marginal tax bracket. [Since 1973] taxes increase in the example by $13,086. By contrast, [...]
Because IRS researchers estimate about $290 billion in taxes goes unpaid and because no one wants more IRS agents on the street, the IRS is “deputizing” tax preparers to police their clients reports the Wall St Journal. The law is intended to make preparers more cautious about signing tax returns that include questionable or aggressive [...]
I find this very disturbing, another example of a fraying social contract among citizens. Around 1 in 6 Americans Do Not Pay Their Taxes. This is evading taxes, not paying your fair share, not carrying your load. And every single one of those evaders will have an excuse as to why the law does not [...]
Damon Darlin gives More Advice Graduates Don’t Want to Hear in the New York Times. 1. Save 10% of your income before anything else 2. Learn to cook 3. Never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset 4, Cut out the lattes. Make your own coffee. 5. Find your mate, marry and stay married. [...]
