Insights

Which saves you more money on dental care - dental insurance or a dental discount plan? The answer is often the dental discount plan, which may surprise you. Dental discount plans are offered by a number of highly rated companies, like Aetna, Cigna, United Healthcare,...

Well, January is in the books and after a boomer 2013, January 2014 was a dud. The S&P 500 dropped 3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped almost 5%. According to the Stock Trader's Almanac, over the last 110 years, when January is a down month, the year is a...

I am facilitating a 13-week workshop called Finishing Well being held at Central Church of God in Charlotte, NC. After years of working with people who needed to get their estate in order and make life less miserable for their executor, I decided this was a...

The Fed announced today just before Ben Bernanke's last Fed meeting announcement that it would begin tapering back on its bond buying starting in January. The market loved it, probably for two reasons. 1) The tapering means the Fed believes the economy is getting...

The year is almost over. If you are a business owner or high-level executive, have you reviewed the following on your qualified retirement plan this year? 1. Investment Policy Statement – It is the 1st document you will be asked for in a lawsuit or government audit....

This Thanksgiving I have a long list, but most of all, I am thankful for God’s forgiveness, his care in watching over me, his direction and his provision, not only for me but for those I love. I am also thankful that He hears and answers prayer. I am thankful for my...

It's been a great year for stocks and the 3rd in the last 4 years. That is particularly true for U.S. stocks and especially growth stocks and small stocks. The European markets have done well, too and the emerging markets have come on after a dismal start to 2013....

The Federal Reserve has built a huge balance sheet since 2008. It has also financed the U.S. federal deficit spending by buying newly issued U.S. Treasury securities issued when the country spent more than it had coming in. How big are these operations? Take a moment...

Bond prices have been falling and interest rates have been moving up. That shouldn't be news to anyone. Tax-free municipal bonds have been hit especially hard. Prices on closed-end funds that invest in those bonds have been hit even harder, with many of the funds that...

The Fed will release its minutes from the July meeting at 2:00 EST. That is often a market-moving event. That may especially be the case now with the markets extremely focused on the possible timing of a tapering off in Federal Reserve bond buying. Interest rates have...