Category: Personal Finance and Money

I have two family friends. One lives in the DC Metro Area (Bethesda, MD) and the other lives in Appleton, Wisconsin. Classic Big Town vs. Small Town. I met them over Thanksgiving and we got talking about the cost of living and how it varies so much across America. Both…

The stock market is hitting new highs on a seemingly daily basis. The job market is rebounding strongly as evidenced by the plummeting unemployment rate. Market analysts are overwhelmingly saying buy stocks, sell bonds. All this implies the economy is positively booming and surely everyone is getting richer. Sadly this…

From a long term trend perspective, despite a few recessions along the way, the American economy based on GDP data, has been growing consistently bigger. Coupled with the stock market reaching new long term highs one may argue that America has found its groove again and that we are back…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a very useful and timely bulletin around the rights of consumers and agencies when it comes to debt collection practices in context of laws enacted under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. For the millions of Americans dealing with…

U.S News just released their 2013-2014 rankings of business schools with little change from the previous year. Despite a tepid economy and higher than average unemployment, business school admissions and tuition rates continue to rise. Particularly for part-time and online business, or MBA, degrees. Getting a graduate business degree is almost becoming the…

The market continued on its rampage reaching an all-time high, surpassing levels last seen before the 2008 financial crisis. This is despite Congress and the Biden administration squabbling about the impacts of additional spending and who would be blamed for a potential economic calamity due to the inefficiency of Washington.…

The IRS publishes several bulletins which contain useful information for tax payers with dependents - e.g parents, grand parents and guardians - that apply to many of my readers. I have summarized the key points below including references to related articles for the latest tax season. Tax Benefits for Parents Dependents. In…

Leveraged and Inverse Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have become a very popular tool for investors trying to super charge their gains from the volatility in market movements. Leveraged ETFs promise to provide a multiple of the returns on the underlying index they track. An inverse ETF on the other hand tries…

It's that time of the year again. Open enrollment. It's also fall, but as this is a personal finance blog, weather is not the focus. My current employer, a Fortune 500 firm, recently released their employee contribution rates (i.e health insurance premiums) for it's employees and once again rates are…

A few weeks ago I began my search for a financial planner (or financial advisor as some prefer) to review my monetary situation and see if I am on the right track for a sound retirement.  I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to personal finance, but I think it is always good to meet…

The table below shows where your household stands, relative to others in the US population, based on how much income is earned per year. For example, if your household makes $50,000 a year you would be in the 25% percentile group of household income. At $150,000, you would be in the percentile that makes…

Choosing the health plan that is best for you and your loved ones is a decision that deserves some undivided attention. While most Americans are used to having traditional health insurance coverage (with up front office visit and prescription benefits), many are turning to catastrophic-only health plans to open up…

With ongoing volatility across global markets and an uncertain future in terms of taxes, regulations and government safety nets such as social security; diversification is key in managing the risk associated with your retirement savings. That's why these four risk diversification strategies across products and services make a lot of…