All Business Is Good Business: August 2016

Monday, August 29, 2016

The Haggler: A Car Renter’s Costly Detour to Collection Center Drive

A Payless Car Rental customer who is charged for unwanted insurance disputes the charge on her credit card, leading to vague threats to pay up, or else.

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Friday, August 26, 2016

Strategies: Some Good News for Investors: The Bull May Still Have Spring in Its Step

Statements by Fed officials, including a speech on Friday by Janet Yellen, confirm that the central bank expects relatively low rates to prevail for years.

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Retiring: Trading Stocks for Bonds Poses Its Own Risks

In an era of ultralow bond yields and longer retirements, loading up on bonds and decreasing market exposure as you age may not be the best idea.

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California Aims Retirement Plan at Those Whose Jobs Offer None

The plan would cover an estimated six million people and could make the state the first to require companies to take part in such a system.

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Wealth Matters: Real Estate Strikes Out on Its Own in the Stock Indexes

Experts differ on whether real estate’s move out of the financials category to its own classification will benefit individual investors.

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Your Money Adviser: Document Flood and Fire Damage to Ease Insurance Claims

Taking photographs of damaged or destroyed property before it is discarded provides a record for use in making insurance claims.

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Your Money: 7 Essential Money Questions Sure to Start a Conversation

Questions that focus on family, feelings and the future we plan for ourselves.

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Your Money Adviser: U.S. Puts Private Student Loan Servicers on Notice: Play Nice

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has stepped up pressure on independent banks and lenders such as Wells Fargo to treat their borrowers better.

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Monday, August 22, 2016

Sketch Guy: The Cost of Holding On

There is a cost to holding onto things we should let go of: anger, frustration, resentment, or even worse. Can we really afford to keep paying this bill?

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Strategies: The Obama Years: The Best of Times to Be a Stock Investor

The main reason the bull market hasn’t been widely celebrated may be because it followed one of the worst declines in stock market history.

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Friday, August 19, 2016

Your Money: These Airlines Are Making It Easier to Share Miles

A few smaller airlines are helping customers earn free seats many times faster than they used to, and without charging them for the privilege.

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The Cost of Sharing Frequent Flier Miles

Want to share miles with a friend or a family member? Here are the pooling policies at some of the biggest carriers in the country.

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Retiring: Patient Advocates Help Navigate Health Care

The nascent profession, just a few years old, handles everything from negotiating lower bills to finding the best doctor.

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Your Money Adviser: Social Security Retreats From Cellphone-Based Online Security

The change means users can log on to their online “mySocialSecurity” accounts as before, with just a username and password.

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Your Money Adviser: More Big Banks Are Using Arbitration to Bar Customer Lawsuits

Customers say they want to keep the right to sue, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a ban on such moves by banks.

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Wealth Matters: Treasury Wants to End Tax Deal for Some Family-Owned Businesses

This provision has been abused by aggressive tax planners and lawyers who used it for family limited partnerships, sometimes as high as 40 percent.

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Monday, August 15, 2016

How Millennials Became Spooked by Credit Cards

Building a credit history holds less appeal for young Americans who had trouble paying off student loans and saw their families’ struggles during the financial crisis.

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Sketch Guy: Hesitant to Make That Big Life Change? Permission Granted

Seeking approval and external validation is part of the human experience, but when it comes to making a major shift, that can be hard to find.

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The Haggler: Solar Snare: Spend Thousands and Cut Power Bills by $9 a Month

When Global Efficient Energy’s installation fails to cut energy bills as promised, a buyer asks the Haggler to help cancel a $19,900 loan for the system.

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Strategies: The Billion-Dollar Jackpot: Engineered to Drain Your Wallet

Mind-boggling lottery prizes are no accident; they’re the result of skillful planning intended to lure players, who would almost always do better by investing that money.

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Friday, August 12, 2016

Your Money Adviser: Multigenerational Households: The Benefits, and Perils

Despite recession’s end, a record 60.6 million people, or 19 percent of the American population, lived with multiple generations under one roof in 2014.

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