Using a new measure of poverty which adjusts for area costs of living, in-kind benefits, health care costs and other factors, the Census Bureau released a new report today (reported here in USA Today) showing that the number of people in poverty is about 49.1 million, 6% higher than the 46.2 million originally estimated in September. [...]
A recent article at the Wall Street Journal’s smartmoney.com explains why mutual funds still charge fees, despite the fact that the transaction costs for stocks, bonds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are getting cheaper. According to an industry spokesperson, customers are paying for a service they are not receiving from other investments, namely fund managers trying [...]
The Employee Benefit Research Institute released a sobering report on the state of personal retirement. According to EBRI, the lowest 25 percent of income earners among baby boomer households would need to work into their mid 80s before 90 percent of them would have an even 50 percent chance of having retirement income to meet [...]
In honor of 2010, the Wall Street Journal provides a year-long guide to fixing your finances. (See article). While I would normally enjoy pontificating over these common sense steps, I have very little to add here…but..oh wait, I do feel the need to put in a word here about retirement savings. The past couple of years have [...]