The common wisdom being bandied about by analysts is that Greece needs a bailout and must remain part of the euro zone or else a global financial Armageddon will ensue. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said during a speech in Germany, “We need a larger firewall,”warning that […]
What does the Super Bowl have to do with your finances? Aside from spending a lot of money on food and drink to eat during the big game, it’s the need to have a good quarterback (QB). The common denominator between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots is that they both have […]
Remember the US Dollar? Pundits across the financial spectrum were writing off the greenback due to the huge Obama deficits, the continued printing of money, rising commodity prices and that the rest of the world was catching up to America. Well, what a difference eight months makes. Throw in a European debt crisis and all […]
As more and more baby boomers hit retirement age, and with interest rates at record-low levels, the question is how retirees can generate the income they need to meet their expenses. I’d like to focus on a popular strategy used by financial advisers: the bucket strategy. This strategy became mainstreamed after the book Buckets of […]
If you are an investor, the best investment you could have made this year was to buy a few bottles of Rolaids. With all the stomach-churning volatility that has symbolized the stock market for 2011, the only relief has been some antacid. All joking aside, to say that 2011 has been a tough year for […]
Last week, I wrote about how the “so-called” middle-class tax cut is going to cause damage to both the Israeli economy as well as to those in the lower and middle classes. Now it seems like the Finance Ministry, led by Yuval Steinitz, is trying to outdo itself by dramatically increasing the taxes on luxury […]
Israelis are beginning to reap the fruits of this past summer’s protests; the problem is that the fruit may be rotten. While some in the middle class may have received some tax relief thanks to the recently passed legislation based on Trajtenberg committee recommendations entitled “The Bill to Change the Tax Burden,” those that actually […]
Not even mentioning the “Lost Decade” of investment returns that I have mentioned so often, the recent market carnage has sent those on the verge of retirement scrambling. After having worked so hard and having “followed the book” when it comes to saving for retirement, many pre-retirees have seen their investment portfolios (not to mention […]
There has been a lot of talk recently about the move back to buying locally, and supporting local, community businesses. As I write this from rainy Seattle, Wa., the media is filled with reports of efforts to get people to forgo doing their Christmas shopping at large national chains and buy from local businesses. It’s […]
Over the last 6 trading days the S&P 500 index has dropped by almost 8%. The last 7 months have certainly been disastrous for investors, and many would argue that we haven’t seen the worst. With no end in sight to the European economic mess, and anemic US growth, many stock prognosticators are calling for […]
