A REASSURING JOBS REPORT A jittery Wall Street liked the big picture it saw in the Labor Department’s May employment report. The economy added 175,000 jobs last month: decent hiring growth, not dismaying to investors, yet not impressive enough to signal the Federal Reserve to taper off QE3. Economists polled by Bloomberg forecast payrolls rising…

When interest rates climb, will these be the CDs to own? Step-up certificates of deposit (also called rising-rate CDs) are fixed-income investments with a bit of wiggle room. When you have a CD with a step-up provision, you have a chance to exchange the initial yield for a better one as interest rates rise. Given…

Could this bull market last with less help from the Federal Reserve? Is it propped up by the Fed’s stimulus, or strong enough to sustain itself if the central bank reduces its efforts? Some factors hint that the economy and the market may have a bit more strength than assumed, even with Q2 GDP projections…

You save for retirement with the expectation that at some point, you will have enough savings to walk confidently away from the office and into the next phase of life. So how do you know if you have reached that point? Retirement calculators are useful – but only to a point. The dilemma is that…

CONSUMERS UPBEAT IN MAY, SPEND LESS IN APRIL Consumer spending slipped 0.2% in April, with a 4.4% drop in purchases of gas, electricity and other energy goods and services being a major influence. In better news, the Commerce Department noted a 3.4% rise in personal spending in Q1, and the two most-watched consumer confidence gauges…

APRIL DATA AFFIRMS HOUSING REBOUND Last month brought a 2.3% gain in new home sales and an 0.6% increase in existing home sales. Distressed properties (short sales and foreclosures) represented only 18% of residential resales in April, the National Association of Realtors noted; compare that with 28% of sales in April 2012. NAR also announced…

Robert Pagliarini, who has developed a national reputation for working with sudden wealth recipients–those who receive a windfall from inheritance, lottery, sports/entertainment contracts, business sale, divorce, stock options, or lawsuit–was interviewed by LearnVest. You can read an excerpt below: *********************************** The winner of the largest single-ticket jackpot has yet to step forward. The Powerball ticket, which…

Dear Florida Powerball lottery winner, congratulations on your win! You beat the odds (1 in 175.2 million) and have the distinct honor of being the largest single lottery winner in U.S. history. As someone who has developed a national reputation for working with sudden wealth recipients – or as a client recently remarked a “lottery…

Living trusts are created with a clearly defined objective: to avoid probate. Misconceptions about living trusts have spread to the point where people think they can accomplish much more than they really do. Here is a realistic assessment of living trusts. If you fear probate, consider a living trust. If you worry about your will…

Ever hear of “filial piety”? How about “filial support”? You may be unfamiliar with these phrases – and the laws based on them. A recent, notable court ruling has brought filial support laws back into the spotlight. Some attorneys and retirement planners are wondering if more nursing homes will use these laws to force adult…