So you missed out on the $865 million Mega Millions jackpot on Tuesday. I know, because you’re here reading this. You’re not beating the 1-in-292 million odds and winning the $730-plus million Powerball jackpot being drawn Wednesday, either. Some things don’t change in the middle of a global pandemic, like your lottery luck or the …
Steve in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla., a self-described patriot, says that after watching the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, he wondered for the first time in his adult life if he should “Invest American.” Throughout his decades as an investor, Steve has tried to buy American and invest in domestic companies. His …
I changed the way I “keep the change” in 2020, and it paid off bigger and better than expected. At a time when multiple studies show that just four in 10 American adults could cover the cost of a $1,000 emergency room visit or car repair using savings – and with people understanding more than …
(This column was released for publication on Dec. 30, 2020.) In a year filled with entirely too much death, no one should mourn the passing of a mutual fund. Funds and ETFs don’t deserve your grief. They’re useful tools, not friends or loved ones, even when they help you succeed. Hundreds of them die every …
(This column was released for publication on Dec. 23, 2020.) Let’s all resolve to make 2021 a better year than the miserable 12 months we have just gone through. Boom! Achievable resolution – one everyone can agree on – in the bag. After a year with so much misery, we can stop the resolutions right …
(This column was released for publication on Dec. 16, 2020.) In ordinary times, the New Year is when people evaluate themselves, making resolves – many of them financial – to improve their daily lives and/or to reach goals. These aren’t ordinary times. Setting goals and making resolutions feels hollow this year, as better times clearly …
(This column was released for publication on Dec. 9, 2020.) The hottest thing this holiday season isn’t the latest video game, cool gadget, best-selling book or popular gift card. It’s “buy now, pay later.” Now part of the check-out process on seemingly every commerce site, buy now, pay later was becoming a movement before the …
(This column was released for publication on Dec. 3, 2020.) No one is going to feel like 2020 has been a “good year.” I don’t need to recap all of the misery that has touched nearly every part of the globe, nor the underlying sense of divisiveness and anger that has tinged so many pandemic-altered …
(This column was released for publication on Nov. 26, 2020.) The Dow Jones Industrial Average wasn’t really reacting to cabinet appointments or potential vaccines when it broke through 30,000 and held that level for the first time on Tuesday. The famed benchmark isn’t a sentient being; it reflects the headlines and underlying economic and financial …
Last week, in describing gifts of stock as “the ultimate 2020 holiday gift,” I acted as if shares are a kind of one-size-fits-all item. Yes, you pick individual companies, but that’s not much different from selecting the color on a more conventional gift. But the questions I got prove that giving stocks for the holidays …
