Posts by Robert Pagliarini

On Capitol Hill and elsewhere, voices are calling for a major shift in public pension plan management – a shift toward privatization. Underfunding of public pensions is all too common. The bankruptcies of Detroit, Stockton and San Bernardino have certainly cast light on the pension funding gaps in those cities, but the problem is widespread:…

Q2 GDP REVISED UP, CONSUMERS SPEND A BIT MORE Personal spending and personal incomes each rose 0.1% in July, the Commerce Department stated Friday. The tiny household spending advance fell short of the 0.3% increase forecast by economists polled by Bloomberg. In better news, the Commerce Department adjusted its estimate of Q2 GDP to 2.5%…

You’re about to purchase a pricy good or service and you don’t have your checkbook or enough cash on hand to do it. Should you pull out a debit card, or a credit card? Given the choice, you’d probably pick a debit card – right? After all, aren’t they preferable to credit cards? Usually, yes…

Financial planning for retirement is a popular topic, but if you fail to address these two misconceptions, then it can backfire. We’ve all heard about the “new retirement”, the mix of work and play that many of us assume we will have in our lives one day. We do not expect “retirement” to be all…

An obscure investment option draws interest. In searching for greater yield, investors look down many avenues. One new (or at least relatively untraveled) avenue has garnered some buzz lately – investment in business development companies, or BDCs. A BDC essentially functions as a subprime lender for a start-up or a financially struggling business. Big banks…

ARE COSTLIER MORTGAGES IMPACTING HOME SALES? On Friday, the Census Bureau announced an unexpected 13.4% drop in new home purchases for July. In contrast to that news, the National Association of Realtors stated that existing home sales rose 6.5% last month. So what is the takeaway here? Most new home purchase contracts close months in…

The term “out spouse” is commonly used by family law and divorce lawyers. When a couple is getting a divorce, sometimes both spouses have been involved equally in the financial decisions throughout the marriage. Maybe one paid the bills and worked with the CPA on the taxes while the other was in charge of investing…

Between early May and mid-July, the average interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose about 1%. Rates on 30-year FRMs have basically held steady since hitting a peak of 4.51% in Freddie Mac’s July 11 Primary Mortgage Market Survey – in the August 15 edition, they averaged 4.40% – but there could be dramatic…

CONSUMER PRICES RISE 0.2% IN JULY That was exactly the increase that analysts surveyed by Briefing.com expected, and it was a relief after the 0.5% rise in the Consumer Price Index for June. As for July’s Producer Price Index, it was flat – a welcome contrast to June’s 0.8% jump. RETAIL SALES IMPROVE July didn’t…

A new MSN article titled “Powerball winners now face their toughest odds” discusses the challenges facing the three recent Powerball lottery winners. Pacifica Wealth Advisors is mentioned in the article: “Those stories underscore the necessity of shelling out for a financial adviser, or even a team of experts, to help keep winners from making poor…