The joke among futurists is that flying cars are 20 years in the future and always will be. But a company called AeroMobil has recently demonstrated an elongated, road-ready flying vehicle with stowable wings that can navigate both city traffic and the airspace between landings and take-offs from the world’s airports. Meanwhile, a company called […]
Archive for June, 2016
The White House Council of Economic Advisers has released a report showing a long-term decline in the share of American men ages 25-54 who are participating in the labor force (see first chart), to the point where the U.S. now has one of the lowest male labor force participation rates in the world (see second […]
Chances are, you know how much you pay in taxes. But how much are taxes costing you in time and preparation fees? According to a Tax Foundation report, using statistics from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, tax compliance will cost the U.S. economy $409 billion this year. […]
Everybody should have a power of attorney—that is, a legal document that gives a designated individual the right to act on their behalf when making financial decisions. The power of attorney is most often used by adult children to make decisions on behalf of aging parents when they are no longer capable of making sound […]
Do plants respond to your touch? Do they feel or enjoy music or your singing voice? The answers, according to new research conducted at the University of Western Australia, are yes and no. Lead researcher Olivier Van Aken says that plants rapidly respond when you pinch a flower, step on them or just brush by […]
The number of Americans in or nearing retirement who are still holding significant mortgage, auto, even student loan debt has been rising in recent years. According to recent data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the average 65-year-old borrower has 47% more mortgage debt and 29% more auto debt than 65-year-olds had […]
Several years ago, Jack’s father died. Jack grieved not only for his father’s passing, but also for his widowed mother who had been married to Jack’s father for 35 years. In due course, Jack’s mother remarried. However, when she eventually passed away, Jack suffered a double loss: Jack not only lost his mother, but also […]
By now most Americans who are saving and investing to pay for college costs have probably heard that so-called 529 college savings plans allow tax-free distributions for qualified education expenses, potentially making them even more attractive and effective than in the past, when they were only tax deferred. Add that tax benefit to other benefits […]
Tracking the performance of your investments can get confusing, due to the various ways of calculating returns. Whether you prefer to use a calculator or spreadsheet software, the following discussion will help you use and calculate common measurements of investment performance to truly judge your investment results. Determining Rate of Return Probably the most basic […]
One of the attractions of leasing a car is that it generally requires a much smaller upfront outlay of cash compared to what purchasing a car might require. This preference to minimize an upfront cash payment may mean that some individuals may also roll into the lease payment other associated costs, including the capital-reduction amount […]