New Year’s Resolutions for the Country
To fulfill the financial resolutions of spending less, living within our means, and paying off our debt, the country first needs to encourage production rather than discourage it.
To fulfill the financial resolutions of spending less, living within our means, and paying off our debt, the country first needs to encourage production rather than discourage it.
It is a crisis fabricated 100% by politicians. And avoiding the fiscal cliff is being used hypocritically for additional political gain.
“Unless we begin to close this gap, then the inevitable result will be that our debt/GDP ratio will continue to rise, the Fed would print money to pay for the deficiency, inflation would follow, and the dollar would inevitably decline.”
Here are thirty reasons Obama doesn’t deserve a second term.
It might be a good idea to listen to those who watch the cause and effect in the economy on a regular basis.
Such a well-intentioned program which steals our youth, our love, our happiness, our faith and our self-esteem.
This week’s Carnival is centered around Budgeting. How do you budget — or do you budget? Do you keep up with your money down to the penny, or do you have broad categories and a ballpark idea of how you’re doing?
Four reasons not to abandon a brilliant allocation that includes emerging markets simply because of short term fluctuations.
Although it is possible, buying a house without a credit history will require you to jump through some uncommon hoops to find a competitive rate.
“A growing link between municipal bond and U.S. stock performance could be very bad if equities fail to rise robustly over the next few years.”
Do I start planting investments and then refrain from giving for ten years?
How is the ‘financial health’ of most physicians? Most physicians put in long hours and due to lack of time neglect their own financial and retirement planning.
Countries are constantly in flux, and with all the noise of the markets, it is easy for the noise drown out the signal.
The unintended consequences of good intentions can do more economic harm than all the mean-spirited greed within capitalism.
Franco Modigliani won the Nobel Prize for a simple technique that squirrels know intuitively from birth. You have to squirrel away some nuts during times of plenty so you can survive during times of scarcity.
How the five countries with the most economic freedom (Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Switzerland and Canada) and Emerging Markets have been faring in comparison to the EAFE Index?
Investment fees are generally about 1% of assets under management and drop as assets rise. The critical question to ask is “Where do financial advisors add value that might exceed the 1% fee they charge?”
Emerging market bonds are an attractive way to get a higher yield, but historically they have come with higher volatility and a high incidence of default. But that has been changing.
To assess our progress toward funding all three children, I have created age-based benchmarks that I share here.
A gone-fishing portfolio has a limited number of investments with a balanced asset allocation that should do well with dampened volatility. Its primary appeal is simplicity. As a secondary virtue, it avoids the worst mistakes of the financial services industry.
Here is the only question you should attempt to answer: Are you paying a higher tax rate now or later?
Some say don’t make extra payments, take the tax deduction. Others say you need to be debt free.
The 85-year-old Palo Alto patriarch has turned helping his 10 grandchildren into a hobby that has paid off for multiple generations.
Even if the overall inflation rate is only 2.25% in the next 10 years, an investor who holds a 10-year Treasury until maturity will realize a zero real return after inflation.
My wife and I have six of our eight grandparents who are living well into their 80s and 90s.
Financial troubles and marital troubles go together. Does financial largess therefore also go with marital harmony? Do something romantic together: Engage a fee-only financial planner.
Q: I recently landed a job that will allow me to begin saving. My company offers a 401(k) and a 3% match, but I also have college debts of $15,000 and a credit card balance of $650. How do you recommend I proceed?
Nearly everyone is an excellent candidate for executing a Roth conversion this year. But it is helpful to have a target amount in mind before you begin.
A Roth provides more flexibility than its Roth 401(k) counterpart because you can access the principal at any time without penalty.
You may be a good candidate for a Roth conversion in 2012 if you can answer “yes” to any of these statements.
New Zealand, the fourth highest country in economic freedom, joined the United States with positive returns for 2011.
Now at year end, I will review how freedom investing fared in 2011 and in the decade since 2002.
If money is among the most common causes of domestic spats, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that almost one in four Americans would try to hide money troubles from their spouses.
“A blindfolded chimpanzee throwing darts at The Wall Street Journal can select a portfolio that can do just as well as the experts.”
When Gordon Murphy, an investment banking veteran, was told he only had six months to live, he decided to use his last days to write a book aimed at changing the way most individual investors think about investing.
Computing your net worth annually is like taking a sextant reading to chart your course toward financial security. Net worth gives you a snapshot of how much money would be left if you converted everything you owned into cash and paid off all your debts.
“Let every man divide his money into three parts, and invest a third in land, a third in business and a third let him keep by him in reserve.”
Most investors do not have a balanced portfolio. And by chasing investment returns they miss the easy money they could make from having a good asset allocation in the first place and rebalancing it periodically.
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Financial resolutions usually don’t even last until the end of January. Making a permanent change in our behavior requires both time and a steely resolve. We can only develop financial character one action at a time. Here are seven practices to take you from pauper to prince or princess if you add one each year.
“Sleeping well at night knowing our household is 100% debt free is truly priceless.” – Manisha Thakor, personal finance expert & author.
Q: I have put my investments in bonds until this global economic crisis settles down and the economic woes of the European Union subside. Do you have any suggestions for indicators that I should look for to get back in?
November 2011 is Libertarian politics month. Libertarians are as diverse as the Democrat or Republican Party.
I’m in my 20s and I’m just getting started in the working world. I’m also looking at a Roth IRA. Is there a certain Roth you recommend?
I’m in my 20s and I’m just getting started in the working world. Which of the attached 401(k) investment choices do you recommend?
Growing investor despair that somehow we have entered into a new era in which individual investors can no longer make money in the markets is an overreaction to the headlines.
Most of us rationalize why we can’t get our finances together right now. Many Americans prolong these excuses during their entire working careers. Here are three lies you must stop telling yourself in order to build a solid financial foundation.
CNBC’s million-dollar portfolio challenge begins next week. Participants can trade a fictional account of stocks and currency. Prizes are given over each of the 10 weeks, and then a grand prize winner is awarded a million.
Q: Our son is headed to Virginia Tech as a college freshman. When it comes to finances, he’s clueless. What financial advice should we offer before we drop him off?
If you look at Social Security as a system of taxation and redistribution, it takes from a single minority male worker and gives to married white women who never contributed. And if you look at Social Security as a forced retirement savings program, it produces such a terrible return we might as well invest in gold. Neither perspective is worth continuing. Social Security as we know it needs to be abolished.