As an attorney working just minutes from the Supreme Court, this week has been unique even for this crazy town. Rarely do you see demonstrations like we’ve had this week outside the Court of Last Resort. But then, Obamacare is no ordinary case. If you’ve wondered exactly what the fuss is all about, here is [...]
5 Ways To Automate Your Finances
I‘m convinced that the one thing that could greatly improve finances for many people is also dead simple–automation. Studies (here’s one–pdf) have shown, for example, that when an employer automatically signs up new employees to the company’s 401k plan, a greater percentage of employees participate in the plan. While many of these employees would not [...]
OptionsHouse IRA Offers 100 Free Trades + Up To $125 In Transfer Fees
OptionsHouse has just released a new offer for those looking to open an IRA retirement account. When you open an IRA with OptionsHouse, you’ll get 100 free trades and OptionsHouse will reimburse you up to $125 in account transfer fees from your existing broker. This offer covers traditional IRAs as well as Roth IRA, SEP [...]
Roth IRA Contribution and Income Limits (2011 & 2012)
In response to The Ultimate Guide to Traditional and Roth 401(k) and IRA Retirement Accounts, a reader recently asked the following question: I retired 12/31/2010. I received my last pay check in 01/2012. Can I put money into my Roth IRA in 01/2012 (up to the amount of my gross or net income)? When it [...]
Capital One Credit Cards Review
Founded in 1988 by Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris, Capital One is one of the primary reasons why you see credit cards marketed so heavily today. In the mid 1990′s, Capital One made a strong push towards print and television advertising. I see a commercial with Jimmy Fallon or Alec Baldwin promoting Capital One credit [...]
Inflation’s Bleak Prospects. . .in 1978
It’s the small, slow changes of life, the ones that occur a little each day, that are the hardest to see but, in the end, pack the hardest punch. Whether it’s the extra 50 calories a day we eat or the extra $50 a month we invest, the change is nearly invisible at first, but [...]
Capital One Cash Rewards Review
It seems like the better the credit card offer these days, the more complicated the rules are for securing rewards and perks. There are so many tiers and spend requirements to meet; it’s confusing even for a guy like me that writes about this stuff day in and day out. One card, however, that has [...]
8 Lucrative Business Ideas for High School Students
When I turned 16, the first thing I did was get my driver’s license. And the second thing was to get a job. My idea of a job was to work at a local fast food restaurant, and later a grocery store. My first “real” job (I delivered newspapers at a young age) paid $3.35 [...]
Are High Gas Prices the President’s Fault?
As someone who works in Washington, DC in an office with a view of the White House, it’s hard to avoid politics. (Every day I watch the Vice President’s motorcade scream down Connecticut Avenue as it travels from the Navel Observatory to the White House and back again.) And during a presidential election year, things [...]