Does anyone think that changing tax law doesn’t change business behavior? Some politicians seem to think their actions won’t change behavior so they can do a simple calculation to get more tax revenue. For example, California thinks that it can simply force on-line retailers to begin collecting sales taxes for on-line transactions and they will [...]

3/14/2011 – Bob Veres We’re all hearing about the tragedy in Japan, with horrific photos and video footage of the aftermath of the earthquake and 10-meter Tsunami.  The humanitarian disaster, with thousands dead and tens of thousand homeless, will continue to capture the world’s attention.  If you can bear to look, here’s some remarkable Japanese [...]

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s “Business Tax Index 2010” ranks the states from best to worst in terms of the costs of their tax systems on entrepreneurship and small business. The Index pulls together 16 different tax measures, and combines those into one tax score that allows the 50 states and District of Columbia [...]

When to Buy Gold See if you can relate to this situation: the struggling U.S. economy experiences severe unemployment, and a falling dollar spooks investors.  The stock market seems to be in a protracted tailspin, and the situation in Afghanistan is increasingly alarming.  So you look for an alternative investment, and find… gold, which is [...]

Planning allocations between entities and beneficiaries is even more critical with higher tax rates on the horizon. By Sonja Pippin, Ph.D. – Journal of Accountancy New tax laws will have a significant impact on the taxation of trusts. If you, or someone you know, is acting as trustee to an irrevocable trust, then you need [...]

Navigating Structured Products by Brian Harris, Senior Editor, Dimensional Fund Advisors In recent years, structured products have gained favor among retail investors in Europe and the US. Investment banks promote these securities as sophisticated tools to help investors manage downside risk, enhance returns, or achieve other investment objectives. Sales have grown briskly since 2006, and [...]

What the new credit card law means for you by Connie Prater – FoxBusiness.com Credit card users can expect the most dramatic changes in credit terms, interest rates and fees in decades now that most major provisions of a new federal credit card law have gone into effect. The new normal for credit cards is [...]

Big Employers Estimate Health-Care Costs Will Rise 8.9% in 2011 By Katherine Hobson – Wall Street Journal A survey of big employers finds they expect their health-care costs to rise nearly 9% next year and plan to share some of that burden with employees via higher premiums and higher out-of-pocket limits. The survey included responses [...]

By MARK WHITEHOUSE – WALL STREET JOURNAL America’s baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—face a problem that could weigh on the economy for years to come: The longer it takes for the economy to recover, the less money they’ll have to spend in retirement. Policy makers have long worried that Americans aren’t saving enough [...]

A ruling by a judge, who in one case said Edison International did ‘substantial’ harm to employees by not negotiating lower fees from the firm running the 401(k) plan, may bolster other lawsuits. By Walter Hamilton, Los Angeles Times – July 29, 2010 For decades, high fees have quietly but steadily eaten away at the [...]