The Department of Labor released its final draft of their fiduciary rules mandating that financial advisors place their client's best interests first when offering advice on their retirement accounts in 2016. Here is a post I wrote just before the … [Continue reading]
My Top 10 Most Read Posts of 2018
January 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment
I hope that 2018 was a good year for you and your families and that you’ve had a wonderful holiday season. For us it was great to have our three adult children home and to be able to spend time together as a family. We all ate way too much good … [Continue reading]
Charitable Giving and Tax Reform
December 14, 2018 by 2 Comments
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December of 2017 marks the biggest overhaul in the tax code in many years. One area that will be impacted under tax reform is charitable giving. While charitable contributions remain eligible as an itemized … [Continue reading]
6 Investment Expenses You Need to Understand
October 1, 2018 by 5 Comments
Investment expenses reduce your investment returns. While nobody should expect investment managers, financial advisors or other service providers to offer their services for free, investors should understand all costs and fees involved and work to … [Continue reading]
7 Things to Know About the New Tax Law
August 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The new tax law (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) passed in December of 2017 marks the biggest overhaul in the tax code in many years. The impact of these changes is far reaching and will impact most of us in some way. As we are now over half-way through … [Continue reading]
Tax Reform and Divorce
March 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The tax reform legislation passed in late 2017 provides the most sweeping changes in the tax code in years. While there are a number of changes that will impact many of us in various ways, the changes in the tax treatment of alimony payments could … [Continue reading]
Are Best Mutual Fund Lists a Good Investing Tool?
June 11, 2017 by 7 Comments
We all like to read article with lists that rank things. Top colleges, top new cars, best and worst dressed and the like are just a few lists we see periodically. Mutual rankings have been around for a while. Many top personal finance publications … [Continue reading]
Reverse Churning Are You a Victim?
June 4, 2017 by 7 Comments
One of the best things about being a freelance financial writer and blogger is that I often learn new things in the course of my writing. A reader left a comment on a post here on the blog and mentioned reverse churning. Until that time, I had never … [Continue reading]
Understanding Your Bond Fund’s Duration
March 19, 2017 by Leave a Comment
For most of the past 30 years bonds and bond mutual funds have had the proverbial wind in their sails. Interest rates have steadily headed downwards. Bond prices and interest rates have an inverse relationship. Last week, however, the Fed … [Continue reading]
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