Lifestyle

Estate and gift tax exemptions will fall to $1 million for the first time since 2003 if Congress doesn't act, leaving many people who have no estate or gift tax liability today to face a considerable liability next year. Don't wait for Congress to act. Make your estate-tax planning moves now.

After the abnormally truncated week from Hurricane Sandy last week, the markets aren't ready to go back to normal just yet since the election is upon us. Plus, the health care sector took a beating last week.

Bet the House

Maybe you have heard of the recovery in housing? It's been a heavily played story over the last few months, and it still has some room to run. Here's a closer look at the direct and indirect plays that investors can use to prosper from the recovery in housing.

Fed up with reimbursement issues, the American Hospital Association is suing the federal government. AHA is joined in its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for denying Medicare payments by hospitals systems in three states.

A lot of attention has been paid to the expiring Bush tax cuts and the new 3.8% Medicare surtax, leaving some other taxes to fly under the radar. In fact there are some pretty common taxes that you probably don't even realize you pay.

It's hard to deny that this week brought some decent numbers in an area of our economy that's still struggling, but it's important to remain vigilant as the unemployment rate actually rose slightly despite the positive data.

It is absolutely essential for our children to understand the use, and misuse, of money so they can successfully function through their lives. The responsibility to teach these skills falls on parents.

Babies born in 2012 can cost their parents up to $369,000 by the time those babies finally turn 18 years old. Maybe that's why less and less Americans are having children. Here are the 10 most expensive states (the Northeast is represented often).

Despite being in one of the top 10 strongest markets in history, investors aren't buying it (figuratively and literally). The argument for betting against the general public and investing right now - As long as there is so much fear out there, the market should go higher.

Although it is still hard to say just how long lasting the impact from Hurricane Sandy will be, the storm appears to be living up to at least some of its hype so far. These three ETFs could be directly affected by Hurricane Sandy.

So much of our information is online that it's a little scary to think of what might be lost and corrupted if our passwords don't hold up. Here are the 10 most common passwords that hackers have actually breached in the last year.

Hurricane Sandy is going to be the spotlight this week even for investors, which will mean lighter-than-usual trading and likely overreactions to any data that comes out. In addition, with the presidential election so close, the markets will be in a state of suspended animation.

With the East Coast getting slammed by Hurricane Sandy this week, it might be time to brush up on proper homeowners insurance. For instance, do you know who's responsible for paying for the damage caused by falling trees?

The recession ensured that retirees could no longer choose retirement spots solely based on good weather. However, seniors will be happy to learn that chilly northern states mostly make up the list of worst states to retire, regardless.

Not much more than 10 years ago the typical equity portfolio put together by financial advisors was simple, straightforward - and dead wrong. Portfolios are much more diversified these days, but investors still struggle with where to put, protect and grow their hard-earned money