It’s still early in the new year, and there’s lots to worry about in the investment domain and in the broader world. But one item tops my “worry list” for 2010: interest rates. And it’s hard to decide which is …

Here’s a pretty simple chart showing hypothetical investment results for two hypothetical investors. Each of them saved $2,500 a year for 25 years, using investment strategies that delivered identical 7% rates of return each year. After 25 years, one investor …

The federal tax on transfers of wealth from estates has been with us since the passage of the Revenue Act of 1916, although there were similar temporary levies around the time of the Spanish-American War. This tax came to an …

Commentators almost seem to have been competing to coin the catchiest—or most negative—label for the ten years from the end of 1999 to the end of 2009. It’s not surprising that some have called it the “Decade from Hell,” given …

Are Americans becoming more thrifty? Personal savings rates are up, the government statistics tell us. This fact has engendered a wide-ranging debate. Is this just a short-term deviation from America’s obsession with spending, or is it a permanent change?

I …

Like everyone else, I’ve been reading (well, skimming) reams of year-end—and in some places, “decade-end”—economic summaries. There’s lots of talk about black swans, financial “Frankensteins,” lost decades, and fundamental changes in investor behavior.

Black swans are old news, and I’ve …

If you rely on a financial advisory firm to manage your assets, how do you know if you’re getting what you pay for?

We think the answer to this question comes down to several specific points, one of which (an …