We tend to pay an awful lot of attention to investment returns. Mostly, I suppose, because they are in our faces all the time. Turn on the television, listen to the radio, pick-up the newspaper; even our smart phones have applications to keep us continuously...
As a tumultuous year in global financial markets winds toward a close, it is interesting to reflect upon the opportunities produced by the disparate performance among asset classes and the volatility wrought by fear and uncertainty. It is always pleasing to watch asset prices rise in...
Did you or someone you know lose a spouse in the last few years? If your spouse died between December 31, 2010 and January 1, 2014 and you did not file an Estate Tax Return 706 because there was no tax due, you may be...
Well, there is no doubt about it: summer’s over. The mornings are cool and foggy, daylight hours are becoming more precious, and the harvest season is upon us – upon us, and upon the bears in the woods as well. The other day I pushed my...
I used to bake a certain kind of cookie called a Russian Tea Cake for the Christmas holiday season. It was a light and flaky mix of flour, butter, and chopped pecans that you formed into one-inch balls and, once baked, rolled in confectionary sugar. ...
Is your money at work, or is it happily enjoying retirement? Has the rate of return on your savings account and what the banks are offering on CDs got you down? With interest rates so low on most short-term investments, money in the bank has...
When I was a young boy I was playing with a friend out in a pasture that sometimes housed riding horses. We were near a creek the horses undoubtedly frequented, when suddenly three or four of them appeared over a rise and came thundering in...
As we all know, financial markets (for stocks, bonds, precious metals, everything) rise and fall – sometimes dramatically, as we witnessed in 2009. That is called ‘volatility.’ It can be unnerving, but it also presents a valuable opportunity for long-term savers and investors. A visual depiction...
We are all very familiar with open-ended mutual funds – the ones that have been around longer than most of us. Their Net Asset Value (the combined value of all of the individual securities they hold) is valued at the end of each trading day,...
The grandchild-ren are coming! Amazing what a difference those last three letters make in expectation and, dare I say, anxiety level. Our four-year-old granddaughter and two-year-old grandson fight incessantly - over toys, food, and most of all Papa’s and Grammy’s attention. Each wants 100% of...