Just beyond the Trump swelter of the hour, lawmakers have been busy concocting plans to dismantle key achievements of the Obama years. Among those accomplishments currently targeted is a concerted effort to destroy, defang, scrap (feel free to select the word) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB was created to protect consumers from the kinds of predatory practices that played a big part in the financial meltdown of 2007 to 2008. The idea was […]
Tax Season is fraud season. It’s prime time for fraudsters and scammers looking to steal your personal and financial data. Business Email Compromise W-2 Scam Payroll and human resources professionals should be aware of a spearphishing email scheme that purports to be from company executives and requests personal information on employees. The email contains the actual name of the company chief executive officer. In this scam, the fake “CEO” sends an email to a company […]
America’s housing market continued its staggering post-recession rise in 2016, as many regions surpassed their pre-recession-bubble highs. With interest rates finally rising, might some of those places be primed for a fall…or at least a pause? The list of U.S. areas that could be hurt most by rising mortgage costs is not your typical list of overheated housing markets, as some fast-growing, but still modestly-priced Midwestern towns could feel the pain first. Rising home values […]
Most people never disclose the details of their estate plan to their children, who may also be their successor trustees, executors, and agents. As a result, after they die, the children are left to guess about their deceased family member’s true intentions because of the sterile, legal language used in their parent’s will or living trust. It’s also true that many children are not even sure that their deceased parent wrote a will, much less […]
Most experts will agree the economy has improved dramatically from its pale, feeble days during and directly after the Great Recession. Unemployment is down (even if there are a few caveats), low interest rates make it easier to make big purchases, and the stock market has largely recovered, except for a few bumps along the way. So why aren’t people rejoicing? The answer is simple: Their wages aren’t growing enough to afford the post-recession celebration. In fact, […]
Tax policy is a crucial component of any political campaign, but as important as taxes are to many voters, they’re not easy to understand. Expert analysis comes in handy, but due to the complex nature of tax policy, even that can be puzzling. Take, for example, recent joint research from the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution. Researchers from the left-leaning think tanks’ tax policy centers assessed the tax plans from Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and […]
There has been much buzz about Social Security recently—and with good reason. Section 831 of the Bipartisan Budget Act contains the first major change to Social Security claiming rules since the Senior Citizen Freedom to Work Act in 2000. Finding out who is affected and what they need to do is a challenge. The Social Security Administration sent an emergency message to its field offices in February explaining how its employees should implement the changes. […]
You likely know that monitoring your credit score is an important part of managing and maintaining your financial health, but it’s also important to understand how your credit score is calculated and the key factors that are used in the calculation. Even then, though, there are the outliers, the unknowns, the credit goblins that go bump in the night and, come morning, you’ve got a small ding on your credit score that you had no control […]
When it comes to investments, there is no end to the commentary about the best ways to do it. Often there is substantial risk. But that isn’t always the case. In fact, there’s one portfolio that could be the deciding factor on whether you go on that family vacation, buy a new car or retire early — and it requires no capital at all. The portfolio I’m talking about is not affected by daily stock […]
Life is full of financial decisions, some simple, some complex, but all with the potential to make a real impact on your life. In a decade, your world can look quite a bit different than it is today – all because of these decisions. Today I’d like to focus on some financial choices you’re likely to regret in 10 years. I’d like to save you from the pain, the chaos and the heartache that occurs when […]
