Even in times of interest rate uncertainty, a certificate of deposit (CD) can still be part of your cash strategy.
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Financial advisers are telling some clients it could be better to spend or give away dividends, interest and IRA distributions, instead of plowing the money back into the market where it will be taxed again.
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ING U.S. Inc., reporting its first results since its partial public offering earlier this month, said its first-quarter loss narrowed as the performance of its retirement and annuities segments improved.
Don’t miss these top stories:10 things the sleep-aid industry won’t tell you.Why iPhone repair costs have soared.15 new mental illnesses in the DSM-5.
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A small group of investors helped James Dimon win a surprisingly large victory in a shareholder vote over his roles as chairman and chief executive of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
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New York's top financial regulator subpoenaed a handful of Wall Street investment firms about their entries into a corner of the insurance industry that guarantees steady payments to hundreds of thousands of retirees and other consumers.
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The client was in his mid-50s and hoping to retire within the year. He had planned well for retirement, and his wife wanted to continue working for several more years.
The Internal Revenue Service hasn't been under such intense public scrutiny since the hearings in the 1990s that led to the Tax Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (also known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 3). Last time, the targets were ...
Credit unions are offering more private student loans, creating new choices for borrowers grappling with high college costs.Nearly 590 of the nation's 6,955 credit unions offered student loans as of December, according to the Credit Union ...
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How can wealth managers help keep an estate from winding up tangled in legal battles between the heirs? For one thing, encourage clients not to be too "fair" in the division of assets, say estate lawyers E. Patricia Chantler and Wonsun ...
I was recently at the annual Tiburon CEO Summit in New York, a sort of United Nations gathering of finance executives. Given how often these CEOs seemed to be checking their smartphones, I began to wonder what tools and apps they favored.
LIKE ANY POPULAR food writer, Gary Taubes gets more than his share of e-mails about his work. So he didn't give it much thought one day two years ago when he got a five-line comment about a podcast he'd given the week before. It was plainly ...
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NEW YORK--An arbitration panel has ordered Minneapolis-based broker-dealer NDX Trading Inc. and now-inactive TradeRight Securities Inc. to pay roughly $5.5 million to a group of 55 elderly investors who claimed their mutual funds were used ...
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Some of the hedge funds that made fortunes in the housing-market crash are now betting on the recovery of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage giants.
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The federal government won't tax an individual's estate if it's worth less than $5.25 million.But many states will tax estates worth far less. For example, New Jersey's estate tax kicks in at $675,000--the lowest threshold in the nation.
Competition in the $466 million consumer money-transfer business is growing, and industry giant Western Union is feeling the heat.The company cut prices by at least 5% last fall for customers sending money abroad, and the move appears to be ...
Sometimes private-equity firms do little more than suck up money like a vacuum cleaner and leave someone else holding a big, ol' dusty bag full of debt.
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Some of the nation's largest banks, including Wells Fargo & Co., suspended foreclosure sales in a number of states following guidance issued last month by federal banking regulators.
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You don't have to be a Rockefeller to join a family office.Family offices are private firms that manage just about everything for the wealthiest families: tax planning, investment management, estate planning, philanthropy, art and wine ...
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The 60-something client came into adviser Ross Gerber's office to help address a rift that was opening in his family.He had remarried and had young children, but both he and his new wife had adult children from their previous marriages. And ...
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Healthy living paid off for Sean Naughton in 2012.Mr. Naughton, an analyst with Piper Jaffray Cos. in Minneapolis, fed off vitamin retailers and grocers peddling organic food to become the top food and drug analyst in the Best on the Street ...
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Stocks of companies involved in cloud computing, or data storage on the Web, and IT outsourcing have been on a tear in recent years, which caused some analysts to bet against continued gains in 2012.
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As most U.S. businesses keep shifting the bulk of retirement funding and planning to their employees, some advisers are embracing an alternative approach that puts investment decisions squarely on the back of employers.
DENVER (MarketWatch) — America’s mortgage foreclosure crisis is at least five years old, and two of the nation’s largest banks apparently still can’t handle all the paperwork.
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The pessimists no longer rule Wall Street, though they lurk nearby.In 2011, with markets in turmoil, sell orders helped analysts ascend to the top three spots in the 44 industry sectors covered by The Wall Street Journal's annual Best on ...
Q. Our credit was once good, but was wrecked when our house was foreclosed on years ago. Since then, we have been renting and paying our bills on time. We expect that our good payment habits will put us into a position to buy a home soon. ...
Besides keeping some in an emergency fund, should the average investor have an allocation to cash and cash equivalents in an investment portfolio? The Wall Street Journal put this question to The Experts, an exclusive group of industry and ...
A number of government agencies and private organizations provide housing assistance to low-income families. Now, more banks and employers are offering financial help to jumbo-mortgage borrowers.
Do-it-yourself investing is gaining newfound popularity—but with a twist.Instead of going it entirely on their own, more investors are pursuing a kind of modified DIY approach, tapping an array of increasingly sophisticated online tools and ...
Opening the mail to find a “preapproved” offer on a credit card can feel like being welcomed into an exclusive club with lots of benefits. In reality, you may not even make the membership list.
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Nearly 100,000 home loan borrowers whose mortgages were handled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley got checks for incorrect amounts to compensate them for potential foreclosure errors, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.
When you hear finance people talking about doves and hawks, they usually aren't referring to our feathered friends. Most often they are describing the attitude of Federal Reserve policy makers toward inflation.
If you really want to curb your spending, dump those extra checking and savings accounts and consolidate them all into one.The traditional thinking is that having more than one liquid savings and checking account can help with saving, ...
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Will your financial life get lost in translation?Culture shock isn't the only thing to contend with when you relocate to another country. There are also big financial challenges—and maybe surprises when you return home.
What advice do prospective do-it-yourself investors need to hear before they start managing their own money? The Wall Street Journal put this question to The Experts, an exclusive group of industry and thought leaders who engage in in-depth ...
When it comes to investing, emotion is commonly seen as a weakness that must be shunned. But new research from professors David Tuckett and Richard Taffler suggests that emotions play an inevitable part in all investing, by amateurs and ...
Is cash in a stock fund's portfolio trash or treasure?How an investor answers can depend on whether stocks are rising or falling. So far this year, with stocks surging and the Dow Jones Industrial Average blowing past its ...
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J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is looking for more directors who can serve on the board's risk committee, said people close to the company, amid calls from some investors for corporate-governance changes at the largest U.S. bank.
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Analysts following the refining sector spent 2012 focusing on the central U.S., where a surge in domestic oil production was creating low prices for those refiners. But Craig Weiland's gaze was fixed on the West Coast.
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Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. halted foreclosure proceedings against home-loan borrowers in 23 states at the request of four state attorneys general, but then resumed the procedures after an internal review of its practices, according ...
Credit unions are offering more private student loans, creating new choices for borrowers grappling with high college costs.Nearly 590 of the nation's 6,955 credit unions—member-owned nonprofit financial institutions—offered student loans ...
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When it comes to choosing the best state in which to retire, some people look beyond traditional needs like nice weather and recreational opportunities.
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WASHINGTON—Lawmakers and federal bank regulators are stepping up scrutiny of a consulting firm that twice bungled payments to consumers in a foreclosure-abuse settlement.
A new vulture appears to have found his wings at Third Avenue Value, but regaining investors' trust is taking time.When legendary "vulture" investor Martin Whitman left the fund a little more than a year ago, Ian Lapey, his co-manager and ...
It isn't often a business says, "Thanks, but no thanks," when you try to invest more money with it.But that is what a growing number of life insurers are saying to people who, years back, bought the retirement-income product known as a ...
Take some money off the table. That's the recommendation of Kent Kramer, an adviser in Des Moines, Iowa, who says that with stock indexes at record levels, pre-retirees should consider selling some shares and setting aside the proceeds.
Want to be a smarter investor? Get in touch with your feelings.The usual advice tells us that we have to use reason, not emotion, when we make investment decisions. But even if we think we're being cold and analytical when we make a move, ...
Many financial advisers don't go out of their way to work with young investors. Young people typically don't have $250,000, much less a million dollars, lying around waiting to be invested, so some advisers don't think it's worth their ...
The vast majority of borrowers being compensated for mortgage-related abuses will get $1,000 or less apiece.About four million borrowers will share $3.6 billion in cash as part of a settlement between federal regulators and banks accused of ...
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WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats blasted federal banking regulators for not revealing more details about what consulting firms found during a review of mortgage-foreclosure abuses and how those firms performed.
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WASHINGTON—The vast majority of borrowers being compensated for mortgage-related abuses will get $1,000 or less apiece, a sobering coda to a protracted attempt to help those who may have been placed into foreclosure as a result of banks' ...
NEW YORK—More investors are taking the do-it-yourself route.It's well known that registered investment advisers are grabbing market share from traditional brokerage firms. But another trend appears to be encroaching on the business of the ...
SeaWorld Entertainment launched its initial public stock offering on Friday, and among the lead underwriters was Goldman Sachs, the great vampire squid.
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WASHINGTON—A top federal banking official will tell lawmakers Thursday that his agency's use of consultants hampered a broad review of foreclosure abuses and "did not serve the agency's objectives," according to written testimony reviewed ...
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The number of homes that were lost to foreclosure in the first quarter fell by a greater amount in the Bay Area than in any other California region, according to real-estate research firm DataQuick.
One of life’s luxuries is being able to afford a vacation home. But don’t underestimate its true cost—especially if you plan to rent it out.
In the spirit of putting art ahead of money, many museums have long embraced a pay-what-you-wish model, letting visitors determine a price based on their financial means and appreciation for what’s on the walls.
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Wealthy taxpayers now can protect more of their estates from federal tax each year with a new strategy some advisers are starting to employ.
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Voices is an occasional column that allows wealth managers to address issues of interest to the advisory community. Casey Murdock is a partner specializing in tax issues with WealthGuard Advisors in Placerville, Calif.
High yield plus protection of principal can be a hard combination to find. Increased access to so-called structured products gives independent investment advisers another place to look. But they need to take a close look.
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The accomplished professor in her late 60s was in many ways the embodiment of financial responsibility.While living a frugal lifestyle, she saved a large portion of her income and held a workplace retirement plan as well as an IRA with ...
Many small firms that own commercial property are facing big trouble.The problem is simple: Banks typically re-evaluate commercial mortgages every five to 10 years. At that point, they can renew the loans, or ask business owners to pay them ...
How do you keep heirs from losing their work ethic if they know they stand to inherit a lot of money? The Wall Street Journal put this question to The Experts, an exclusive group of industry and thought leaders who engage in in-depth online ...
Have you heard? Wonderful, wonderful news. The economic “austerians” have been defeated!The deficit cutters and budget balancers have been routed in the field of economics. All those worries about government debts have been debunked. It ...
When Pablo Picasso was told that the 1905-06 portrait he painted of Gertrude Stein didn't look like her, his response was, "It will." By that he meant that long after the writer died, the portrait—which now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum ...
Superstorm Sandy was a wake-up call for those concerned with climate change, those who live in flood zones and people with art collections.Art collections?
Umpqua BankOut with the loan officers, in with the yoga instructors. Oregon-based Umpqua Bank, like many banks, is experimenting with wide-ranging initiatives to draw customers to its branches (or “stores,” as the financial institution ...
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The American couple was deadlocked over when to move home from Saudi Arabia. The husband felt strongly about staying longer to boost their retirement nest egg, but the wife was unhappy and ready to move home as soon as possible.
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Small investors are piling into U.S. floating-rate bank loans, an asset class that pays relatively high yields and offers protection against rising interest rates.
Last year was an expensive one for Clarissa Hitchon and Sean White.The couple made a cross-country move, got married and bought their first home, all in a matter of months. Now Ms. Hitchon, 32, is focused on rebuilding their savings ...
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What's the best financial advice for young people just starting to make money? The Wall Street Journal put this question to The Experts, an exclusive group of industry and thought leaders who engage in in-depth online discussions of topics ...
1. Your failure to send your Mother a proper birthday card is the least of our problems.For four days at the end of June, retired letter carrier Jamie Partridge and nine other current and former postal workers didn’t eat. They were on a ...
What’s wrong with us? We’ve lost thousands of dollars of household goods and priceless remembrances because of torrents of water in our streets, homes and basements — yet we still don’t have flood insurance.
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Where you get married can make a big difference in the cost of a wedding.Some locales are just more expensive in general: while the average U.S. wedding cost $25,656 in 2012, couples in New York City shelled out $31,621, according to The ...
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A strengthening real-estate market has more wealthy people on the lookout for a second home or a piece of property to rent out.When clients float the idea of buying a vacation home or becoming a landlord, the first thing their financial ...
Forget free toasters—think beer and yoga.Those extras are among the draws being used by banks to lure customers to branches in an age when checks can be deposited with a smartphone picture and mortgage applications filled out online.
Fund investors can get considerable exposure to technology stocks through broad index funds—such as those tracking the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, which was 16% in tech as of March 31. Some people also own broad tech or ...
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Banks this week will start making payments to millions of borrowers who were foreclosed on at the height of an era where wrongful actions were taken, federal regulators announced Tuesday.
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Voices is an occasional column that allows wealth managers to address issues of interest to the advisory community. Robert Richter is the Jacksonville, Fla.-based vice president of SunGard's wealth & retirement administration business, ...
Fund Scope | ScoreboardThe Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13 granted UBS Financial an exemption that generated little attention. The firm's application for this forbearance had been duly published in the Federal Register in ...
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Investing's "new normal" is spurring more portfolio managers to say they're willing to try alternative ways to tap into low-cost index funds.
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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is getting better at not losing money in trading, but it isn't scoring as many days of big gains, either.The Wall Street giant reported 16 days of trading losses in 2012, down from 54 in 2011, as daily trading risk ...
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One of the biggest names in mergers and acquisitions, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s Jim Woolery, is leaving the bank after two years to become deputy chairman of New York law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.
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The 66-year-old widow had been a client of adviser Jay Wertz since her husband died in 2007, leaving her with had an estate worth $30 million.
First impressions can be misleading.When a new stock fund gets off to a great start—or a terrible one—it may be only a function of luck. To figure out which new funds are truly promising, many investors and advisers wait for them to post at ...
With the bank bailout in Cyprus rattling European stock markets, there’s been renewed interest in the country-less virtual currency Bitcoin, which soared in value in recent weeks. But lost in all the talk of a Bitcoin bubble is whether the ...
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The number of American homes that end up in foreclosure has started to decline, a welcome development that partly reflects an improving housing market.
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Activist investors have been called raiders, distractions and dissidents. Now, they are getting a new label: "asset class."In recent years, this once-fringe investing approach has matured, with activists honing their techniques and seeking ...
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WASHINGTON--The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider an appeal by subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) that sought to derail a class-action lawsuit alleging the company provided false and misleading information about ...
Lawmakers grilling Mary Jo White, President Barack Obama's nominee for chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, on Tuesday will have to weigh two seemingly contradictory versions of the attorney.
At American Funds, the flood of investor withdrawals seems to have stopped, but ripples from the giant fund group's reversal of fortune in recent years continue to play out.
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WASHINGTON—A federal watchdog is faulting U.S. bank regulators for a flawed review of foreclosure documents, saying the agencies didn't establish consistent procedures or adequately monitor the consulting firms performing the work.
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A ruling from the European Union's top court will force Spain to make it easier for mortgage holders to escape foreclosure by challenging onerous mortgage terms in court.
Dividends are becoming more important to total stock returns because companies are diverting a rising portion of their profits to them. Yield hunters should focus on companies with plenty of potential for payment growth. Good bets include ...
Erin Tierney is committed to giving her 5-year-old daughter a wonderful life. As a single mother who works two jobs, it isn't always easy.Ms. Tierney, age 44, has worked as a part-time professor of hospitality and tourism management at a ...
An article in the March Investing in Funds & ETFs report noted that some retirement-income experts are throwing out the so-called 4% rule—the conventional wisdom that you can take 4% from your savings the first year of retirement, and ...
Unpaid rent bills sent to some debt collectors will show up on credit reports. But now on-time payments can count, too.Two of the three major credit-reporting firms, Experian and TransUnion, now allow renters to include on-time rent ...

To get a clearer picture of your money, consolidating old workplace accounts to an IRA or your next employer plan makes a lot of sense.