Lifestyle

Following Florida's statute of limitations is a good rule of thumb for saving all records, though some accountants prefer six to ten years of substantiation. If you want to bequeath property as a gift, however, that's another story.

Think your high income subjects you to all sorts of stealth taxes? Well, you're right...it does. But experts have some good news - there are plenty of tax breaks of which you can take advantage no matter how high your income.

The modern-day city of Bergama has a population of about 50,000, but twenty centuries ago when it was called Pergamum or Pergamon, 150,000 people lived there. Today you can buy a carpet where once upon a time multitudes came to be cured of their ills.

A client and I were talking and I shared with him that I did not foresee this first quarter bull market. He said to me with sarcasm, "You must be the only one." His point was this: others can't seem to forecast the future either. Having said that, allow me to throw a dart at the proverbial market dartboard...

If your investor is worth his salt, he or she should be able to navigate today's choppy financial seas. If you've tossed yours overboard, then it's important to ask these key questions of your new advisor before you hand over any money.

It was a bit of a roller-coaster trade in the stock market last Thursday, but when it was all said and done, the stock market resolved its affairs in much the same way it did in the first quarter. That is, it saw the downswing as a buying opportunity and ended the session on an upswing.

Financial planners have been advising clients for years to pay off their mortgages faster by making extra payments. Now, contrarians suggest that the money you put into those payments could work harder elsewhere.

The American Medical Association's conditional support of the healthcare reform bill was good for physicians' wallets, says Dr. Howard Brody, but bad for the overall health and wealth of the nation.

A generation ago, a classic advertisement for the VW Beetle had a simple headline: Think Small. A good idea then, and considering current economic conditions, an even better one today.

We had a seat at the healthcare reform table, but we were window dressing, not leaders. Now we must recognize, not only that life will go on, but that this bill is written in pencil. We must now assume our proper roles as the primary advocates for rational, efficient, and encompassing maximization of our patients', and the nation's, health.

Early this morning, President Obama announced that there is no actual need for healthcare reform, and apologized for "making such a big deal about it before."

Companies that advertise "free" credit scores are actually peddling a credit monitoring service for a monthly fee. Here's how you can avoid getting scammed.

Bank customers can get slapped with a $35 overdraft fee because the $3.00 latte they put on their debit card is more than they have in their account. What's worse, those overdraft fees can pile up with each transaction they make as long as their account is in the red.

If spring is almost here, summer weddings can't be far behind, and many couples planning to head down the aisle are already wrestling with projected costs. The recession has cut into the average cost of a wedding, which now runs around $17,500, down from about $20,000 back in the heady days before the economic meltdown.

When the ground rules changed for credit card issuers, some of the rules for consumers looking to keep their credit score high changed too. Certain moves, which used to be no-nos, can now actually improve your credit rating.

The stock market recently observed two significant anniversaries. March 9 marked the first birthday of the current bull market, which began a year ago when the market turned around from an intraday low of 666 on the S&P500 index.