Personal Finance

Get 6% On A Checking Account?

Looking for somewhere to stow your cash? If you’re concerned about stocks and bonds, there are some safe storage opportunities that offer more than minimal yields.

According to Inflation Data.com, inflation is non-existent right now. They currently post inflation at -1.29%. Deflation has reigned for the last three quarters. Although they see the trend heading in the other direction right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another quarter of deflationary activity. Bear in mind, the “official” Consumer Price Index differ from non-official tallies, but any way you look at it, inflation is weak.

That’s one reason to consider cash investments. …

17Nov2009 | Invest With An Edge | 2 comments | Continued

Fighting Soaring College Costs

I’ve talked a lot about soaring costs for many of our biggest needs and wants — energy, health care, food, and more.

But if you have kids or grandkids, you’re probably aware of another major expenditure that keeps going up no matter how weak the broad economy is: The price of a college education.

The College Board’s latest survey came out a couple weeks ago, showing that tuition and fees at private 4-year schools rose 4.4 percent in the current school year to $26,273.

Meanwhile, the price of a 4-year public university education spiked more than 6 percent for both in-state…

17Nov2009 | Money and Markets | 0 comments | Continued

If This Is Recovery…

If This is Recovery, Where Are the Taxes?
Last Business Standing
Stimulus, What Stimulus?
The Reality of Unemployment
Let the Good Times Roll
The Quick Double-Dip Scenario
Phoenix, New York, and Thoughts on the Internet

No one goes into Wal-Mart and asks to pay extra sales tax. Thus sales taxes are reasonable barometers for retail sales. This week we look at how taxes are doing in a period of economic recovery. Then we turn our eyes to a very interesting (and sobering) analysis of possible future unemployment rates. This is an anecdote to the happy-face analysis of employment numbers you…

16Nov2009 | Thoughts From the Frontline | 1 comment | Continued

I Blame Everyone for the Credit Card Fiasco

I was recently talking to my mother, and she started talking about the evil credit card companies, and how they were out to get us all — right now — by jacking up our rates unfairly in a bid to record massive profits before new consumer-oriented legislation begins going into effect.

She cited personal examples of people who have been coming into the credit union where she works, telling tales of new fees, lower limits, and interest rates doubling overnight for no good reason.

And make no mistake — I totally agree that credit card companies are doing these things today. Moreover,…

11Nov2009 | Money and Markets | 1 comment | Continued

Your Fall Housing Market Update

Every few months for the past couple of years, I’ve made it a point to update you on the state of the housing market. I feel it’s essential to do so because …

• You may be buying, selling, or holding a primary residence or vacation home.

• You probably have a mortgage, and maybe a home equity loan.

• And you’re probably concerned about the broader economy, which the housing and mortgage markets significantly impact.

So where do we stand now?

Well, the stabilization and very mild recovery I first told you was coming back in the spring, continues apace. Sales have generally…

30Oct2009 | Money and Markets | 1 comment | Continued

How a Middle Class Disappears

Whiskey & Gunpowder: Many people write of the imminent destruction of the U.S. middle class (of which I consider myself a member) but few have explained specifically how this occurs. Understanding the mechanism seems important if I hope to avoid the fate of most of my peers.

An insight on this question came from an unexpected quarter.

A gentleman by the name of Fernando Aguirre, who posts on Internet forums and his blog as FerFAL, has written voluminously about his experiences as an Argentine citizen during and after the economic cataclysm that wracked his country in 2001. I first found a long…

30Oct2009 | The Real Deal | 0 comments | Continued

Abolishing Risk Destroys America and Your Wealth

Our willingness to engage in risks drives our prosperity. We urgently need a public debate on risk, one driven by reason, not emotion. Without risk, individuals are bound to lose the purchasing power of their savings; corporations that don’t take risk will fade into oblivion; and governments that regulate away risks destroy the growth engine of their nation.

The U.S. is the most prosperous nation because it has embraced risk taking. Silicon Valley has created some of the greatest innovation because it has been a magnet for entrepreneurs. When we evaluate our love-hate relationship with investment banks, let’s not forget…

26Oct2009 | Merk Investments | 0 comments | Continued

Yet Another Government Insult to Retirement Incomes

As if it isn’t bad enough that most retirement portfolios are still down significantly from their levels a year or two ago … that housing wealth has been evaporated in towns across the country … and that near-zero interest rates are punishing responsible savers … Washington recently issued another piece of official bad news — Social Security recipients won’t be getting one single penny in cost-of-living increases next year.

The news wasn’t entirely a surprise. And, sure, President Obama has asked Congress to send out another one-time payment of $250 to more than 50 million seniors as a little relief (emphasis…

20Oct2009 | Money and Markets | 0 comments | Continued

Getting a New Job Will Get More Difficult

Star and Tribune:

Despite signs that the economy has resumed growing, unemployed Americans now confront a job market that is bleaker than ever in the current recession, and employment prospects are still getting worse.

Job seekers now outnumber openings by six to one, the worst ratio since the government began tracking open positions in 2000. According to the Labor Department’s latest numbers, from July, only 2.4 million full-time permanent jobs were open, while 14.5 million people were officially unemployed.

And even though the pace of layoffs is slowing, many companies remain anxious about growth prospects in the months ahead, making them reluctant to…

28Sep2009 | The Real Deal | 1 comment | Continued

Pension Plan Shocker Dead Ahead!

I’ve talked about corporate pension plans before, but in a few short weeks I think we’re going to get some shocking news. Namely, that the government backup for failed pension plans is more underfunded than it has ever been before.

Back in April, I told you a bit about the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and its decade of running in the red.

But just to recap: The PBGC is there for workers when their companies break retirement promises, and yet ironically, the PBGC itself has been underfunded every year since 2002!

To its credit, the organization was doing a decent job of…

17Sep2009 | Money and Markets | 0 comments | Continued