Investors feeling giddy about last week’s sharp rally for stocks might want to give a listen to Tom Waits’ song, “Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard” from 1978, to sober up for the dangers that still lurk a...
Tag: Society/Community
‘Voters are looking for help’: With control of Congress too early to call, here are 3 burning tax questions
A day after midterm elections, it remains uncertain whether either party will end up with Congressional control or whether it will be a divided Congress — and that has consequences for these tax quest...
‘It’s a touchy subject’: My in-laws live in our basement. They gave us our 20% down payment. Should we charge them for renovations?
Last year, my husband and I approached my in-laws to see if they wanted to live with us. We had learned that my father-in-law had terminal cancer but could still live five to seven years in remission,...
If I sell my rental I can pay off my primary mortgage and be debt-free. Is that a good idea in this housing market?
Dear MarketWatch, I have a rental property that’s worth $175,000, and I owe $53,000. My primary home is worth $265,000 and has $108,000 left on the mortgage. My question is this: Should I sell my ren...
‘This has gone on too long’: The bank paid itself $18,000 in fees. My late father’s trust has not been distributed. What recourse do I have?
My father’s father set up a trust at a major bank with my father and the bank’s trust department as co-trustees. My father died at the end of last year; upon his death, the trust was supposed to be di...
‘Am I being ripped off?’ I moved into my husband’s home. I pay for groceries. The rental income from my apartment goes into our joint savings.
I read one of your previous columns regarding the boyfriend who wants the letter writer to move in. My case is similar, but we have already made a decision on how to structure our finances as they rel...
40% of households will pay no federal income tax this year. Why that’s good news.
Millions of workers are bouncing back — and making enough money to pay Uncle Sam. Some 72.5 million households or 40% of households will pay no federal income tax this year, down from the pre-pandemic...
‘When we dated for 5 years, he implied he was financially secure’: My husband was always hesitant about his finances. Now I know why.
Dear Quentin, My husband and I make about the same salary, and live modestly. Six months after we married, I found out my husband’s net worth is virtually zero. He owes more money than he has assets (...
Millions of working Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck — and running out of cash as another recession looms
Inflation is taking its toll on people’s emergency funds. The share of workers who say they are living paycheck-to-paycheck has surged among middle- to high-income earners — 63% and 49%, respectively ...
My boyfriend has a nicer house, and says I should live with him. My mortgage is paid off. He believes I should pay half of his monthly costs. Is that fair?
Dear Quentin, My boyfriend owns a house with a 30-year mortgage balance of $150,000 on a 4% interest rate. He has $275,000 in cash and retirement accounts. He is retired. My house is paid off. I have ...
Personal savings have plunged — how to boost your savings in case of a recession
As red flags go, this is a big one. The personal savings of Americans have plunged this year, hitting $629 billion in the second quarter of 2022, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St....
IRS releases new federal tax brackets and standard deductions. Here’s how they affect your family’s tax bill.
America’s high inflation rate will produce a 7% increase in the size of the standard deduction when workers file their taxes on their 2023 income, according to new inflation adjustments from the Inter...
Do you have problems with the IRS — or does the IRS have a problem with you? Read this before you act.
How do you deal with a problem like the Internal Revenue Service? And how do you deal with your own tax problems as they pertain to the IRS? To be clear, I’m not talking about major problems like righ...
New IRS tax brackets and standard deduction could save families hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Now, for the bad news.
In a time of rising costs, the Internal Revenue Service just raised income-tax brackets through new inflation adjustments for next year. It might feel tough sometimes to link the IRS with the concept ...
How to save a bundle on your tax return
This is Part Two of our list of suggested year-end strategies. Part 1 discusses gaming the federal standard deduction, and managing capital gains and losses. The tax environment is getting friendlier ...
Why stock market investors should wait for the 10-year Treasury to ‘blink’
When a key part of the U.S. bond market starts shrugging off new Federal Reserve interest rate hikes or tough talk on inflation, it’s probably time to buy stocks, according to James Paulsen, the Leuth...
What bank earnings tell us about how consumers are doing with high inflation, recession worries — ‘It’s not a crack in current numbers’
For all the worries about inflation’s pinch and the chance of a recession, just-released earnings reports from big banks indicate the wallets of many regular Americans are generally holding up as they...
Here’s why you should be worried about state and local pensions
America, about 26 million people across America are relying on state and local pension plans to take care of them in their retirement years. That figure includes 15 million retired teachers, police of...