Opinion

Displaying 2102 results
NEWS OPINION DEC 14, 2007
Little-publicized NUA election is taxpayer-friendly, in some cases

NEWS OPINION DEC 10, 2007
Let's put a freeze on mortgage rate resets

The prospect of 2 million homeowners seeing their mortgage rates jump over the next two years as adjustable-rate mortgages reset, possibly triggering hundreds of thousands of foreclosures, has forced the government, lenders and the mortgage-servicing companies to focus on the problem.

NEWS OPINION DEC 03, 2007
Time to Start Talking About Estate Taxes

NEWS OPINION DEC 03, 2007
PPA supports new business models

Investment advisers can thank the 2006 Pension Protection Act for giving them a new opportunity.

NEWS OPINION DEC 03, 2007
Time for an assault on golden parachutes

It's time for all investors, institutional and individual, to tell boards of directors: "We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore!"

NEWS OPINION NOV 26, 2007
Do-it-yourself structured notes

As discussed in earlier columns, there are two types of structured-note products — those without a principal guarantee and those that guarantee the return of principal as a worst-case scenario.

NEWS OPINION NOV 26, 2007
SEC should not require climate change risk disclosure

The Securities and Exchange Commission should resist calls for it to require, at this time, greater disclosure of the business risks to companies from climate change.

NEWS OPINION NOV 19, 2007
Including health care in financial plans

Health-care spending for people under 65 is growing faster than for those over the "magic" number.

NEWS OPINION NOV 16, 2007
Early Withdrawal of Retirement Assets under Section 72(t)

NEWS OPINION NOV 12, 2007
Skepticism, savvy needed in the boardroom

The subprime-mortgage fiasco has revealed several flaws in the financial system that must be corrected if similar disasters are to be avoided in the future.

NEWS OPINION NOV 12, 2007
Industry airheads inflated the subprime bubble

The subprime-mortgage meltdown, which has triggered a larger meltdown throughout the credit markets, is the latest example of grand-scale faulty logic and short-term thinking.

NEWS OPINION NOV 05, 2007
On being a leader and a fiduciary

When preparing to depart from a meeting or other encounter with a senior officer, it is a still-practiced naval tradition for junior officers to make the request, "By your leave, sir/madam."

NEWS OPINION NOV 05, 2007
Bill would shift burden, complicate taxes

Rep. Charles B. Rangel's Tax Reduction and Reform Act of 2007 is misnamed. It should be called the Tax Reallocation and Complication Act of 2007 or perhaps the Accountants and Financial Planners Full Employment Act of 2007.

NEWS OPINION NOV 05, 2007
A Three-Step Approach to Funding LTC Costs

NEWS OPINION OCT 29, 2007
Let's not rush to arbitration judgment

The North American Securities Administrators Association Inc. and the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association want to remove industry arbitrators from securities arbitration panels, arguing that the presence of industry representatives makes the panels inherently unfair.

NEWS OPINION OCT 29, 2007
It's harvest time - for tax losses

As November approaches, and 2007 comes to a close, investors are taking stock of their realized and unrealized gains and losses for the year.

NEWS OPINION OCT 29, 2007
Economic storm clouds are gathering

When the Federal Reserve Board cut the discount and federal funds rates by 0.5 percentage points Sept. 18, some critics charged that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues had acted too quickly.

NEWS OPINION OCT 22, 2007
Pay close attention to retirement plan fees

Many financial planners and investment advisers have helped small companies establish 401(k) retirement plans for their employees.

NEWS OPINION OCT 19, 2007
IRA beneficiaries beware wrong turns

NEWS OPINION OCT 15, 2007
The Great Lakes State is all wet

There is something rotten in the state of Michigan. Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state lawmakers emerged from a recent late-night budget session with a new 6% sales-and-use tax that affects investment advice services, among about 20 other previously untaxed services.