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Let's review how mutual fund investments affect your taxes and what you can do to shrink the bite. If you own mutual funds, this is the time of year when many funds pay capital gains distributions. Even if your fund reinvests the distributions, they are taxable (unless your fund is held in a reti...

Today, women are playing an ever-increasing role in making important financial decisions - whether for themselves or for their families. While many of the basic rules of investing hold true for all investors, some life events will affect women differently than they will men, and these can also have...

Payroll and income tax issues have become increasingly complex. My weekly blog post will attempt to explain many of the new changes that might affect you without also putting you to sleep - let's see if that's possible: For the first time since 1971 the Social Security wage base will not increase!...

That's important advice on a day like today, with snow overnight and steady sleet as we head to our activities. It's also important advice in your investment portfolio. Distraction is everywhere: oil is up & stocks are down, gold is down & stocks are up, the dollar is up, down, you get the idea....

People graduating from college and entering the workforce are likely to have a lot on their mind. Buying a decent car, purchasing a first home, getting rid of their college debt, etc. Saving for retirement often isn't very high on their list. It is something they figure they have plenty of time to w...

The IRS has released its updated Publication 17 (Your Federal Income Tax) for use in preparing 2009 returns. The 300-page-plus work reflects the many tax changes that affect the 2009 return, including the changes made to the first time homebuyer tax credit (FTHTC) by the Worker, Homeownership, and B...

The Federal Reserve has famously lowered interest rates to the lowest they've ever been to help avert an implosion of the international financial system. Now that the crisis has passed its zenith, and in combination with the explosion of federal deficits, interest rates have only one way to go: up....

Back in 2001 Congress passed a law to make estate taxes vanish by 2010 and then come roaring back in 2011. Faced with a loss of revenues in 2010 (Congress hates that) and the return of high estate taxes in 2011 (widows & orphans hate that), it was a story without a happy ending for anyone. Last week...

The big news this morning is the much lower than expected job losses in the US economy: only 11,000 jobs lost last month, where analysts had expected well over 100,000. This is one more piece of slowly accumulating evidence that the economy is well on the way out of recession. The financial crisis o...

The world's biggest bond fund manager, Pimco's Bill Gross, issued his December newsletter this week. The title, "Anything but 0.1%, refers to the national average yield for money market funds. Mr. Gross describes the tough environment for savers right now. Money markets yield 0.1%, one year CD's ave...