It pays to shop around, even for funerals
Funeral arrangements are among the steepest expenses we’ll face, but many important decisions are made emotionally rather than with a close eye on costs.“It doesn’t matter how much you spend, it doesn’t make a person any less dead. It doesn’t mean you love them any more or less and it isn’t going to bring them back,” said Josh Slocum, executive... READ MORE
Strings attached to high-interest accounts
With interest rates so stingy, making your money grow requires a little extra work.That’s why checking accounts that promise competitive interest rates are get ting so much attention lately. The rates dangled by some banks for these accounts are more than triple the current 0.67 per cent average rate on a one-year certificate of deposit, according to Bankrate.com.Yet high-interest... READ MORE
Time to buy: blue chip stocks are on sale
The U.S. economy is a mess, and Europe and Japan aren’t doing any better. At first blush, shunning stocks altogether seems the wise course — even after September’s rally.But a funny thing has happened in the stock market.High-quality, large companies — blue chips — are trading at steep discounts to smaller, debt-laden stocks. Ditto for mutual funds that invest... READ MORE
Where to find decent returns with less risk
Even in the best of times, most older adults couldn’t care less about whether the stock funds they own top the performance charts or beat the stock market. What most of us — and a growing number of younger investors — want are mutual funds that produce decent profits in good markets, and, most important, limit losses in bad markets. That’s doubly true now, because these are... READ MORE
Politics block Social Security solutions
Prospects appear bleak for fixing Social Security’s financial problems as the government retirement insurance program celebrates its 75th anniversary. Many Democrats adamantly oppose any cut in benefits to reduce cost, and some won’t accept a gradual increase in the retirement age — something that was done in the last overhaul in 1983. Meanwhile, Republicans say an increase in... READ MORE
Money 2023
