As a lottery winner, you are likely to be barraged by tax, legal, and financial issues. The only method to successfully navigate your way through the complexity is to have a team of experts who are the best at what they do. The question is, who is the best financial advisor for lottery winners? I’ve…

When turbulence hits Wall Street, are you stressed out? If you have taken on too much risk in your portfolio – which can happen through intention or inattention – stock market volatility may make you anxious. So from time to time, it is a good idea to review how your assets are invested. Your asset…

ISM: SERVICE SECTOR VERY HEALTHY At 55.2, the Institute for Supply Management’s April non-manufacturing PMI climbed 2.1 points above the March reading. The nation’s service sector expanded for a 51st straight month, and the survey saw big monthly leaps in its new orders index (up 4.8 points to 58.2) and its business activity index (which…

As you save for retirement, you also recognize the possibility of having to pay major health care costs in the future. Is there some way to plan for these expenses years in advance? Just how great might those expenses be? There’s no rote answer, of course, but recent surveys from AARP and Fidelity Investments reveal…

Positive moves to counteract negative cash flow. The financial analysis website nerdwallet.com keeps track of the various debts common to the U.S. household. As of April 2014, they’ve found an average mortgage debt of $154,365. They have also discovered an average household has $7,087 in debt from credit cards, but when the numbers are revised…

If you want significant reward, you will have to assume some risk. Anyone investing in securities – particularly stocks and funds – must accept that reality. Investing in the markets gives you an opportunity to accelerate the growth of your savings and outpace inflation, and you definitely want that chance – but how do you…

Are student loans holding our economy back? Certainly America has recovered from the last recession, but this is an interesting question nonetheless. In a November 2013 address before the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Assistant Director Rohit Chopra expressed that college loan debt “may prove to be one of the…

HIRING & MANUFACTURING PICK UP America’s economy created 288,000 new jobs in April, the most in any month since January 2012. Labor Department data showed the jobless rate falling dramatically to 6.3%, largely due to more people abandoning the job hunt. Still, the U-6 rate (unemployment + underemployment) was at 12.3% in April, a 4½-year…

I just finished a new book titled, “The Age of Oversupply” by investment banker, Daniel Alpert. His thesis is that the current economic malaise the U.S. and other countries around the world are experiencing is the result of three factors: 1. Oversupply of labor 2. Oversupply of capacity 3. Oversupply of capital He goes into…

CONSUMER OPTIMISM INCREASES At a final April mark of 84.1, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index hit a 9-month high. It climbed 4.1 points above the final March reading. The survey’s sub-index of current economic conditions came in at a 7-year high of 98.7. HOME SALES TAIL OFF While the National Association of Realtors…