What should you do if you win the lottery? A few weeks ago I was invited to be on the Katie Couric show to discuss the financial and psychological sudden wealth effects of winning the lottery. You can read some of my financial advisor lottery tips titled “7 Tips if You Win Big” and I…

Why do so many retirement savers underperform the market? From 1993-2012, the S&P 500 achieved a (compound) annual return of 8.2%. Across the same period, the average investor in U.S. stock funds got only a 4.3% return. What accounts for the difference? One big factor is impatience. It is expressed in emotional investment decisions. Too…

I recently wrote a column for CBS Moneywatch titled “Why Athletes Go Broke” that discuss seven common issues that impede good financial and investment decisions for professional athletes when trying to manage their sudden wealth. The NFL Players Association is trying to educate their players and provide them with unbiased financial advice. At the helm…

CHECKING IN ON THE CONSUMER According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending improved 0.3% in May as consumer incomes increased 0.5%. The latest household sentiment polls seemed to reflect the good news. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge hit 81.4 in June, the best mark since January 2008; the University of Michigan’s final June survey…

The end is in sight for QE3. On June 19, the Federal Reserve let investors know that “easing without end” will eventually end, perhaps as early as mid-2014. Wall Street had anticipated such a signal, but investors still reacted emotionally to the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ceding all of its May and…

Consumer inflation just hit a 50-year low. So indicates the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge – the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index maintained by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Besides tracking consumer inflation, the PCE price index measures household purchases, a major factor in GDP growth. The core PCE index does the same thing…

FED OUTLINES END FOR STIMULUS, STOCKS SLIP Last Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke shared the central bank’s vision for winding down its current aggressive easing effort – the potential tapering of QE3 by late 2013, and the end of the program by mid-2014 if economic conditions permit. Wall Street reacted abruptly – the Dow…

IMF: FED SHOULD WAIT 6 MONTHS TO TAPER QE3 On Friday, the International Monetary Fund called for the Federal Reserve to keep easing at current levels at least until the end of 2013 and to carefully manage any exit from QE3. In its annual review of the U.S. economy, the IMF characterized the March 1…

You heard it here first! Powerball Powerball Powerball mania has hit California. There are few topics that get people interested and excited as much as the lottery. Even if you don’t play, the idea of receiving a life-changing windfall can be thrilling to imagine. And now it seems, at least for those in California, your…

Dow. NASDAQ. S&P 500. Fear index. NYSE. Commodity prices. Earnings. Economic indicators. These are the gauges and signposts of investing, but if you stopped most people on the street, you’ll find they have only a hazy understanding of what these terms signify or reference. If you’ve ever been left dizzy by the jargon of the…