U.S. SERVICE SECTOR IS BOOMING The Institute for Supply Management’s July non-manufacturing PMI came in at a stellar 58.7, indicating rapid expansion. It hadn’t been that high since December 2005, and its new orders sub-index reached a peak unseen since August 2005. On Wall Street, some investors worried that the Federal Reserve would take the…

If your loved ones have invested, saved or insured themselves to any degree, you may be named as a beneficiary to one or more of their accounts, policies or assets in the event of their deaths. While we all hope “that day” never comes, we do need to know what to do financially if and…

Federal workers and military personnel are offered a supplemental retirement savings plan to complement their pensions – the Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP. Just how well does it measure up to other forms of popular retirement accounts? Picture a 401(k) or 403(b) with five fund choices. In a nutshell, that is what the TSP resembles.…

If you spend two years or less at a series of jobs, is that a problem? Shouldn’t your resume signal loyalty instead of transience? Well, maybe it isn’t a problem. Maybe you are doing yourself a financial favor instead, especially in this decade. Maybe the conventional wisdom about getting ahead is flawed. The era of…

There has been a lot of press recently about corporate tax inversions where U.S. companies relocate to other countries to save taxes, but there is a technique I like to think of as a personal tax inversion that helps individuals decrease their tax bill rather than corporations. I wrote about this strategy for Forbes: Avoid…

YEARLY INFLATION AT 2.1% In June, the headline Consumer Price Index recorded annualized inflation at that level for a second consecutive month. Back in February, yearly consumer inflation was down at 1.1%. June saw the CPI rise 0.3% and the core CPI (minus food and energy prices) advance 0.1%; core CPI was up 1.9% year-over-year.…

What kind of retirement do you think you’ll have? An outstanding one? A depressing one? What if it all starts with your outlook? Qualitatively speaking, what if the success or failure of your retirement begins with your perception of retirement? A whole field of study has emerged on the psychology of saving, spending and investing:…

On July 1, 2012, the Department of Labor implemented some rules changes for ERISA-covered defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans. These changes were made to improve transparency. Covered service providers (CSPs) must fully describe services & fees. Financial advisors, financial consultants or third-party administrators who expect to receive $1,000 or more in direct or…

What would possess me to arm wrestle first-round draft pick Dee Ford? There are no lengths I won’t go to in order to teach people about money… You can read why in the column I wrote for AOL titled “I Arm-Wrestle NFL Rookie Dee Ford to Teach Athletes About Money.”