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5 weeks ago, Wall Street was mostly convinced that the economy was about to turn a corner. At the time, traders were piling into the stock market, chasing big gains and selling everything risk-averse. Mortgage bonds were in very low demand and the supply glut pushed rates north of 6 percent. Since then, [...]

I remember the days of my undergraduate career. Every year, tuition went up. I had a scholarship, so it didn’t impact me that much, but student fees generally rose along with tuition. And every year that my husband has been in grad school, we’ve watched tuition increases and student fee hikes. But this year, things [...]

Today, the Federal Reserve released its quarterly report on household wealth. According to MarketWatch, the report contained this information on net worth:
Household net worth fell at a 9.9% annual rate in the first three months of the year to $50.4 trillion, the lowest in more than four years. Net worth — assets minus liabilities — [...]

“…and I’m not going to take it anymore!”
That was pretty much the most entertaining part of last night’s “Unbroke” even on ABC. Samuel L. Jackson getting everyone to scream their defiance about being broke. I did like it on two levels — well, beyond the sheer entertainment value, of course:

It encouraged us to wake up [...]

We’re in a recession and the stock market has taken a beating for over a year. You’ve also probably noticed your portfolios drop significantly in value. It’s been a tough…

Right now, the so-called “three-legged stool” of retirement income is rapidly losing its legs. Social Security was never a program designed to provide an adequate retirement income — it has always been considered supplemental. By the time I retire, Social Security may not even be a contender. Few companies offer pensions anymore, and if you [...]

The recession and stock market downturn are forcing previously retired doctors to go back to work.
But, after being away from medicine for so long, some are finding that hospitals and clinics aren’t willing to take them back with open arms.
Malpractice coverage will be higher for these physicians, and indeed, a cited gastroenterologist commented that “he [...]

I received two email questions this morning to this effect:
Do I need be concerned about swine flu? How will it affect my finances?

An interesting question. And probably one prompted by the fact that the financial press is talking about how the swine flu is sending stock markets around the world lower. However, in terms of [...]

When it comes to retirement savings, the recent stock market collapse has surely focused the mind. For years, we embraced the lovely, but ultimately absurd, idea that double-digit returns on equity investments would continue forever. Now, retirees-in-waiting must get their arms around a market that lost half of its value between June, 2008 and March of this [...]

I’ve often said that I’m a boring investor. And I’m not alone. Mike Piper, The Oblivious Investor, is also a boring investor. He’s written an entire book, Oblivious Investing: Building Wealth by Ignoring the Noise on a simple buy-and-hold investing strategy that focuses on index funds. It’s not exciting, but you’re more likely to build [...]