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Month: October 2012

Keeping an Eye on Our Economic Freedom

The United States has experienced a “remarkable plunge in economic freedom” over the past ten years. This is the conclusion of the 2012 Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report, by Gwartney, Lawson, and Hall. The report measures the degree to which a country...

Free Money: Mental Accounting and Couples

Last week my husband and I hired a painter to put a fresh coat of paint on our hundred year old home. True to form, my husband negotiated a good deal and got the contractor down $600. When he told me he saved this amount of money, he immediately started to brainstorm...

Rick Cited; On Money Scripts in WSJ

“At least 80% of all financial decisions are made emotionally.” In an October 15 article in The Wall Street Journal online, reporter Thomas Coyle uses this statement from Rick to emphasize why it’s so important for financial planners to help clients...

Help Wanted to Understand Unemployment Rate

In an economy that isn’t exactly robust, how can unemployment be going down? The recent drop in the unemployment rate from 8.1% to 7.8% caught almost everyone, including me, by surprise. The GDP grew by only 1.5% in the first quarter, and its growth was under 2%...

Having the money talk: Should you merge your finances?

Your sweetie has a financial history: school loans, credit card debt, gifts from parents and career choices and plans. You handled money separately until now — what next? We asked three financial planners what goes into the choice of merging finances or staying...