Michael Sheehan

Would you take investment advice from a cartoon character? How about the man who created him? Scott Adams, creator of cube-dweller Dilbert, has an economics degree and an MBA, and believes the average investor needs to take a simpler investing approach.

Doctors beware! Barred from raising rates without adequate notice and limited as to late charges and penalty interest rate increases, banks are scrambling to put new fees in place to restore lost revenues and may be targeting physicians in creative ways.

When faced with unhappy or even angry patients, some doctors may try to sweep the complaints under the rug. That's a bad idea. There is a definite correlation between the number of complaints and the number of malpractice suits.

With car sales up over last year, dealers are not as desperate to "move the metal" as they used to be. That translates into fewer and smaller rebates and scarcer financing incentives. Still, savvy buyers can still drive a bargain if they are willing to put in some time and effort.

Look for more merchants to offer discounts when you pay cash rather than use a credit card, thanks to recent financial reforms. In fact, discounts for paying with cash may convince consumers that their rewards credit cards are a lot less rewarding.

The federal government and even a publicly traded company are hoping to thin the ranks of the unemployed by giving employers financial incentives to hire new employees.

As if physicians weren't already swamped with paperwork: A new provision of the healthcare law requires businesses to file tax forms for every vendor who sells you more than $600 worth of goods in a year. The new law will affect almost 40 million businesses, including most medical practices.

A reader and his spouse have dual 401(k) retirement accounts and want to know the best way to manage their combined assets.

How do you make up for billions of dollars in lost revenue? When you're a credit-card issuer, you get creative -- and aggressive. Here are some of the new tricks and traps card companies are using to generate more fees, and how to avoid them.

Complaints about healthcare products and services were one of the Top 10 consumer complaints of 2009. Consumers reported healthcare providers for things such as misleading claims, unlicensed practitioners, long wait times and failure to deliver promised services.

The Cadillac Escalade and the Chevrolet Silverado topped the Top 10 list of new cars that thieves target the most, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute. Here's some tips to make sure yours isn't one of them.

Increasingly, financial-planning firms are targeting physicians offering specialized services. One reader asks what he should look for when choosing one.

The dog days of August have arrived, and that means state sales-tax holidays aren't far behind. Aimed at back-to-school shoppers, sales-tax holidays are designed to lure more consumers into retail outlets and encourage them to spend more. Some 15 states are planning to hold sales-tax holidays this month.

With great fanfare, General Motors unveiled the $41,000 sticker price for the Chevy Volt, its much-hyped extended-range electric sedan -- or about $8,000 more than the all-electric Nissan Leaf, which will list for $32,780. Are they worth the cost?

A physician who is having trouble finding a nanny who is willing to be paid "on the books" wants to know the downsides of not paying the so-called nanny tax.

Although that 10-minute spin around the neighborhood is supposed to tell you whether a car you're considering buying is right for you, it rarely does. This guide will help you make sure the time you spend on a test drive isn't totally wasted.

A reader wants to know how he can stop shady-sounding brokers and fundraisers from contacting him at home. Doctors are often targeted by this kind of fraud, because they are entrepreneurial, self-reliant, and -- most important -- affluent.

Physicians routinely screen patients for a variety of physical ailments, but a recent pilot project is asking doctors to screen patients for evidence of financial fraud and to identify patients who might be at risk.

It's tempting to ignore a minor car accident, rather than face the premium hikes that may follow if you tell your auto-insurance company. But there are risks to not reporting an accident -- here are some considerations.

A slew of tax cuts are set expire in less than six months, unless Congress acts to extend them. With the government starved for revenue and the national debt topping $13 trillion, Washington watchers are speculating over which tax breaks lawmakers will choose to extend.

Second-quarter earnings reports are starting to arrive and analysts are expecting solid results. But market watchers say it's more important than ever to focus on what companies see coming down the road, rather than what's in the rear-view mirror.

Splitting up with your spouse can devastate your retirement savings if you're not careful. Unless you have the proper paperwork in place, you may be on the hook to pay income taxes on both your share of the account and your spouse's share.

The recent carnage in the stock market has led to lower interest rates on Treasury securities, with the yield on the 10-year note falling as low as 2.938% before ending last week at 2.98%. The lower rates have spilled over into the mortgage market, where interest rates hit a record low. Is now the time to refinance?

The number of illegal, abusive trusts is on the rise, the IRS warns. Even if you're a victim, you could face criminal and civil penalties. If you've been approached about setting up a trust, or have done so already, here's what you need to know.

A computer-generated reminder telephone call can reduce the number of patient no-shows, but a human voice does even better, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

New Fed rules eliminate credit-card inactivity fees, and restrict late fees and over-the-limit charges -- but your interest rate may still rise without warning. Here's a look at what the new rules mean to you.

Under the pending financial reform bill, a newly created consumer protection agency would oversee private student loans, including those that for-profit colleges make to students. The bill would also create an ombudsman position, to give borrowers a place to turn for help with loan problems.

Nearly 140 S&P 500 companies raised their dividends or introduced new ones this year. Experts now believe some of these cash cows may declare a special dividend soon to sidestep a potential hike in the dividends tax next year. A look at some solid high-yielding stocks.

Numerous studies have shown that a medical resident's clinical performance breaks down after 24 hours on the job, and those who pull all-night shifts are responsible for more than half of medical errors. Now, new guidelines propose shortening residents' work week.

If you've ever pictured yourself driving off in a Lamborghini or Ferrari, but didn't think you could afford it, there's a way you can enjoy the thrill of driving one without shelling out a year's income: Rent an exotic car for the weekend.