Coming to terms with the realities of your later years can be one of the toughest challenges of aging. America is geared to youth and even acknowledging the inevitability of aging may be considered a form of cultural disloyalty. So let’s accept and applaud that 80 can be the new 60, that millions of baby [...]

By ROBERT W. WOOD – Forbes.com Do You Feel Lucky?  No one wants to be audited.  And yet as a tax lawyer advising clients about tax issues, I’m required by Treasury Department rules to assume every return will be audited.  In truth, there might be only a 2% chance of audit. When I say there’s [...]

Since this magazine is dedicated to Investor Education for Main Street America, it seems appropriate to refer our readers to a fine new publication created by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors titled Pursuit of a Financial Advisor Field Guide. Where do I go? Where do I look? What do I ask? Finding qualified, [...]

Staff – Journal of Accountancy Congress adjourned its year-end lame-duck session on Wednesday after passing legislative fixes for several pending tax issues, including the estate tax, the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, an alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch, and extensions of many expired provisions. However, it failed to repeal the expanded Form [...]

By Janet Hook and John McKinnon – Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON—Congress passed the most far-reaching tax bill in a decade late Thursday, averting across-the-board tax increases, enacting new breaks for individuals and businesses and laying a marker for how Washington might work in an era of divided government. The bill goes to the White House [...]

In this video, Kenneth French explains why lower economic growth may not hinder future stock returns. In fact, history shows that average returns tend to be higher during periods of economic difficulty. The information about a current recession is factored into stock prices, and investors may require a higher expected return to induce them to [...]

Uncertainty in Washington Is Creating Confusion for Investors Trying to Minimize Their Tax Burden. Here’s What You Need to Know—and Do. By Laura Saunders – Wall Street Journal There are plenty of reasons for taxpayers to scream. Here it is, year-end tax-planning time, when investors must decide whether to take gains or harvest losses and [...]

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 [...]