Time to boost your IRA balance. In 2013, you can contribute up to $5,500 to your Roth or traditional IRA. If you will be 50 or older by the end of 2013, your contribution limit is actually $6,500 this year thanks to the IRS’s “catch-up” provision. The new limits represent a $500 increase from 2012…

NEW YEAR, NEW LAWS AFFECTING YOU  Singles earning more than $200,000 and couples earning more than $250,000 will face a 3.8% Medicare surtax and a 0.9% increase in Medicare payroll tax. Tax rates on dividends and long-term capital gains remain at 15% for most, but have risen to 20% for the wealthiest. A scheduled 2%…

At some point, someone you love may make the transition from living at home to residing at an assisted living or nursing home facility. When should that transition occur, and what factors must be considered along the way? And what don’t these facilities tell you about? When is it time? If an elder is a)…

Many of us associate April with taxes. We should also associate it with IRAs, for April is the month with the deadlines for IRA contributions and mandatory IRA withdrawals. The deadline for your 2012 IRA contribution is April 15, 2013. For tax year 2012, you can contribute up to $5,000 to your Roth or traditional…

Stocks shrugged off numerous worries to log a very good year in 2012. The riskiest areas were the most profitable. The bond side also saw riskier asset classes outearning traditionally safer fixed-income market sectors. Emerging-markets local-currency bonds notably gained 17%. Domestically, high-yield bonds and leveraged loans returned 15% and nearly 10%, respectfully, while investment-grade bonds…

Several tax hikes, some tax breaks. Now that the fiscal cliff deal assembled in Congress is becoming law, it is time to look at some of the tax law changes that will result. Here are the major details in the bill, which will bring significant tax hikes to some households in an effort to increase…

You may be amused by the efforts of some of your friends and neighbors as they try to “chase the return” in the stock market. We all seem to know a day trader or two: someone constantly hunting for the next hot stock, endlessly refreshing browser windows for breaking news and tips from assorted gurus.…

STEADY HIRING AT THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF Employers added 155,000 jobs in December. The encouraging news is that non-farm payrolls continued to expand while businesses fretted about the fiscal cliff. The discouraging news is that December’s job growth roughly approximated that seen in September, October and November – and at the current pace, it…

Taxpayers with over $400,000 in taxable income or couples with over $450,000 in taxable income will see their maximum tax rate rise to 39.6% from 35% in 2012. For income earned below these levels, the 2012 rates are permanently extended and will remain the same. The Social Security portion of payroll taxes for all employees…

When I was growing up outside of Portland, Oregon, one of my favorite pastimes was going to Powell’s Bookstore—the largest independent bookstore in the world. I’d spend hours upon hours finding and reading books there. Not much has changed as I’ve grown older. While I spend less time in bookstores, I still have an insatiable…