U.S. military action in Syria appears imminent. Assuming it happens, what happens to the financial markets? Investor reaction on August 27 (the day U.S. intervention was mentioned as a possibility) was not exactly surprising. Gold entered a bull market again, oil prices reached a six-month peak (surpassing $109 a barrel), the Dow fell 170 points…

I recently wrote a column for CBS Moneywatch titled “6 Ways to Cut Your Income Taxes After a Windfall“. Here is a preview of the six strategies discussed in that column…     1. Create a pension.  2. Create a captive insurance company. 3. Use a charitable limited liability company.  4. Use a charitable lead…

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%…

A Qualified Domestic Relations Order — commonly called a QDRO (pronounced “quad-row”) is a court order most commonly used when a couple divorces that provides an ex-spouse with some ownership (usually 50%) of the other spouse’s retirement plan. For example, if the husband has $400,000 in his 401(k) account, the QDRO would call for the…

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…