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By: Terry Savage - 8/25/2010 |
We all know that what you don’t know can hurt you. But what most don’t consider is that what we don’t insure can devastate you. Three years ago, I wrote about a MetLife survey that revealed what people don’t know about their insurance coverage. Now, MetLife Auto and Home is just releasing an update on that survey. Sadly, the combination of ignorance and recession has made the situation even worse.
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Tags: icplaces, Terry Savage, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 8/17/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: I was thinking of buying 200 shares of Microsoft, but my brother, who knows more about investing than I do, said to buy Apple because they make a better product. He also thinks Windows will eventually go out of business because the Apple system is superior, doesn’t need frequent updates or maintenance and is easier to operate. In fact, he wants me to get rid of my PC, which has Vista, and get a new Mac. What do you think? — P.O., Aurora, Ill.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Terry Savage - 8/16/2010 |
There’s a huge gap in Medicare, and it can’t be covered by a supplement. It’s not just a gap in coverage; it’s a huge gap in the solvency of the Medicare program itself. And now, it’s a gap in trust.
On the one hand, the government is promising senior citizens that Medicare recipients won’t feel any cuts. And on the other hand, they’re promising the program will be more solvent, essentially because of huge cuts that are planned for the program. It’s the worst, most dangerous kind of double-talk. And it will impact all of us.
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Tags: icplaces, Terry Savage, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 8/11/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: My money manager has $440,000 of my $720,000 portfolio in triple-A-rated long-term bonds, and I’m scared to death what will happen if interest rates rise. My money manager has me in bonds for principle protection, but I don’t need all that income. I would appreciate your recommendations if you think I should make changes. I’m also worried about how Congress is managing our country. I don’t expect you to have a solution, but it certainly would be comforting if Congress earned the trust that the voters placed in them to put our country back on the right path of solvency. Your comments on the economy and Congress help me see this very clearly. — R.D., Vancouver, Wash.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Terry Savage - 8/11/2010 |
On a daily basis, I share the pain of so many of you who write to me asking for help in forestalling a foreclosure or dealing with creditors. Today’s column is dedicated to J.B., who contacted me through my blog (www.TerrySavage.com and blogs.suntimes.com). J.B. worked diligently with his lender to try to secure a modification, but in the end simply didn’t have the income or resources to make it work.
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Tags: icplaces, Terry Savage, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 8/4/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: I am grateful to my college that gave me an education, which helped me earn a large amount of money. I just sold my business, and I will create a $2.6 million endowment fund to be presented to my college 21 years hence when I will be 66. I have personal reasons for waiting until I’m 66, which I don’t’ wish to discuss. I want this $2.6 million to be invested so it could be worth $10 million in 21 years.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Terry Savage - 8/2/2010 |
Are you ready for a 164 percent tax increase? It’s just around the corner. On Dec. 31, the maximum tax on dividend income will jump from 15 percent to 39.6 percent — a 164 percent increase — if Congress doesn’t act to prevent it.
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Tags: icplaces, Terry Savage, Business
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By: Tom Purcell - 6/21/2010 |
It could turn out to be a good thing. According to CNNMoney.com, the traditional full-time job with benefits is being displaced by temporary or contract positions. With unemployment high, you see, employers have their pick of skilled workers. Why hire full-timers and fund costly benefits when they can pay a flat hourly or monthly rate instead? Few full-time employees are aware of it, but their benefits package -- health, life, dental and disability insurance, "free" college tuition, workers’ compensation insurance, 401(k) matching, etc. -- is income.
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Tags: icplaces, Tom Purcell, Business
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By: Terry Savage - 6/20/2010 |
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Consider this news to be another step in the Tax Accountants Full Employment Act. ?The latest change in the tax law: The "Kiddie Tax" now applies to much older kids! The new tax law puts a crimp in the plans of wealthy parents who had planned to gift highly appreciated stocks to their college-age children, who could then sell the shares and pay a very low capital gains tax rate based on their low income.
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Tags: icplaces, Terry Savage, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 6/2/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: I own 200 shares of British Petroleum that I bought in April of this year at $60, just a couple of weeks before the big blow. The stock is now $40, and I’m devastated. Do you think I should sell the stock? Can it go down to $20 as some people suggest? -- P.T., Destin, Fla.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 6/2/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: My broker wants me to buy 300 shares of Disney for my growth and income account. He subscribes to Value Line, whose analyst writes that the stock will go to $65 in the next 36 months. That sounds too good to be true. So can you give me your opinion on the stock?
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 6/2/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: If you had to make a choice between 600 shares of Office Depot or 200 shares of Staples, which stock would you choose? This investment would be for this year’s simple IRA. -- P.W., Elkhart, Ind. Dear P.W.: Office Depot (ODP -- $6.62) is a schlocky outfit run by overpaid, schlocky people, with a schlocky billing department.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Terry Savage - 6/2/2010 |
What hit the stock market? That’s what investors are asking after the recent decline, which left the Dow just barely over 10,000 and the S&P 500 at 1,071 -- both breaking significant historical support levels. The stock market had been in a bullish uptrend since the Dow hit a low of 6,745 in March 2009.
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Tags: icplaces, Terry Savage, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 5/26/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: What do you think of Walgreen Co. stock as a long-term buy for my IRA? My broker, who is a good friend and who really likes your column said that Walgreens was founded by Walter Green, which is how the name (Walgreen) came to be, and says his first drugstore was in Chicago.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 5/26/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: Our broker, who could have been Miss America, has advised us to purchase AstraZeneca because this company has developed a new drug called Vimovo. She believes Vimovo, which will soon get FDA approval, could have blockbuster status for the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 5/26/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: In early April, I began to get concerned about the market and economy. So, through my broker, I asked analysts at Merrill Lynch, Oppenheimer, Bank of America and JPMorgan if we were headed into a recession and if the market would dip below 8,000 this year.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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By: Terry Savage - 5/24/2010 |
It isn’t working. They can throw all the euros -- and dollars -- they want at the Greek financial situation. But the markets won’t believe it. The euro is heading straight down toward parity with the U.S. dollar. That wouldn’t be the end of the world, if the two reached parity.
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Tags: icplaces, Terry Savage, Business
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By: Terry Savage - 5/22/2010 |
Q: What’s all this talk about "circuit breakers" for stock trading? Would it stop big declines? Will it make the market safer? A: The Securities and Exchange Commission is working with the exchanges to create some kind of mechanism that would halt trading when extreme moves develop in individual stocks.
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Tags: icplaces, Terry Savage, Business
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By: Editorial Contributor - 5/20/2010 |
Earlier this year, Wal-Mart posted its first drop in customer traffic and revenue in the company’s history, and it was all because the largest retailer on the planet got just a little greedy, according to one industry insider. "Late last year, an initiative began to promote the retailer’s in-house store brand of grocery products,” said Darlene Quinn.
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Tags: icplaces, Editorial Contributor, Business
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By: Malcolm Berko - 5/19/2010 |
Dear Mr. Berko: Do you think that the new Continental/United Airline will be a good investment? It seems that this merger combines the best of both airlines and that together, management will be able to reduce costs, improve operating efficiencies and finally begin a long-term trend toward profitability.
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Tags: icplaces, Malcolm Berko, Business
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