• Making A Home Senior Friendly
    09/01/2006 - 08:00

    Many older Americans want to age in place, to live in their homes rather than relocate to a nursing home or an assisted living facility. But often times, older adults don't have a working knowledge of or access to home- and community-based services that promote independent living.

    In October, a consumer awareness campaign aptly named National Aging In Place will occur and it has been deemed the perfect time for older Americans and their relatives to discuss a whole range of livability issues. What are the topics that relatives and older Americans should broach?

  • The New Pension Protection Act of 2006 Promotes Savings, Protects Pensions
    09/01/2006 - 08:00

    It's been described as the most sweeping pension legislation in more than three decades. The new Pension Protection Act of 2006, which was signed into law by President Bush on August 17, includes provisions designed to strengthen traditional pension plans that now represent some 44 million American workers and retirees. The new law also does much to promote savings: it makes permanent increased IRA, retirement plan, and catch-up contribution limits, and the tax-advantaged benefits of all 529 college savings and prepaid tuition plans.

  • Conserving Client Portfolios
    09/01/2006 - 08:00

    The questions are more than academic. "How much can an investor afford to withdraw from their portfolio during retirement, while minimizing the risk of exhausting that portfolio prematurely?" and "How should a person's portfolio be invested such that he or she can withdraw the maximum amount possible?" are very real questions that investors must address if they want to maintain the same standard of living in retirement as in their working years.

  • College Planning in the Wake of New Tax Laws
    08/01/2006 - 08:00

    Planning for college has never been easy. But such planning became a bit easier when President Bush signed the TIPRA and DRA into law earlier this year. Among other things, DRA and TIPRA changed the treatment of pre-paid tuition plans and 529 plans, two popular vehicles Americans use to save for and pay for college.

  • The Correct Way to Use Lifecycle Mutual Funds
    08/01/2006 - 08:00

    Target-date and target-risk funds have become popular investments among 401(k) plan participants and retirement investors, especially those who have neither the time, knowledge nor inclination to create and manage an investment portfolio.

  • Navigating Interest Rates, Inflation and the Economy
    08/01/2006 - 08:00

    These are tricky times for American investors and consumers in general. The economy seems to be cooling down! The second quarter GDP rose just 2.5 percent, down from 5.6 percent in the first quarter of 2006 and below its average of 3 percent during the recent expansion. And the housing market, perhaps in reaction to 30-year fixed rate mortgages above 6 percent in late July, also seems to be slowing down: Sales of new homes fell 3 percent to 1.13 million homes in June and revisions to data released by the Commerce Department also showed the U.S.

  • A Primer on the TIPRA 2005
    07/01/2006 - 08:00

    On May 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, or TIPRA for short. TIPRA affects taxes on capital gains and dividends, the alternative minimum tax or AMT, the so-called kiddie tax, and Roth conversions. Given all the changes, including those affected most by the sunset measures introduced in 2001 and 2003, the new tax law heightens further the need to do financial planning now rather than later. Here's a summary of the changes:

    Capital gains and dividends

  • Gearing Up for Life on the RV Road
    07/01/2006 - 08:00

    More than 30 million Americans are RVing these days. But as romantic as it may appear, would-be buyers or renters of recreational vehicles need to do more than test drive a "home on wheels" before joining the avid community of those who live life on the road.

    Would-be RVers should examine all aspects of RV living, including how to choose the right RV, how to negotiate with dealers, how to buy the right insurance, and how to drive an RV before chasing such an idyllic life.

  • ILITS Remain a Popular Estate Planning Tool and Technique
    07/01/2006 - 08:00

    The federal estate tax may or may not be repealed or reformed anytime soon. But such discussions in Washington should not dampen the use of irrevocable life insurance trusts as a still very viable and valuable planning tool and technique which has applications beyond the tax efficient payment of estate taxes.

  • Getting Started with ETFs
    06/01/2006 - 08:00

    Conceived more than 80 years ago and now owned by 91 million individuals from 54 million households in the U.S., mutual funds owe their strong appeal to a combination of features: professional management, instant diversification for low minimum investments, prices based on net asset value (NAV) and marked to market daily, and easy reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

Market Snapshot

SymbolLastChange
^DJI
10,340.70
-107.24
^GSPC
1,098.87
0.00
^IXIC
2,228.87
0.00
TYX-X.W
0.00
0.00