Lifestyle

In previous blogs, I’ve been highly critical of the “public plan option” that is a part of most of the healthcare reform plans we’ve seen to date. It’s been easy to discredit a trillion dollar reform plan that relies on the efficiencies gleaned through federal involvement.

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life. Unfortunately, it seems to be the American way. Here's the Straight Talk on education (or the lack thereof) in the United States today.

A $2 billion infusion to the expiring Cash for Clunkers program comes at a time when manufacturers are offering major additional rebates. Lost in the media blitz, however, is a signifigant tax break for new-car buyers that lasts until the end of the year.

This session's decline has the stock market facing a week-to-date loss of roughly 1.4%. If the downbeat tone holds, this week will mark the first weekly decline for the S&P 500 in the last five weeks.

Buyers who flocked to long-term US Treasuries during the credit crisis' worst days are now being doused with red ink amid a rosier economic outlook. Even municipal bonds are looking shaky these days. So what's a bond investor to do?

Even after setting a target portfolio mix, it's easy to veer off course. Over time, market moves alter your actual mix and if left unchecked, can have negative impacts on your returns. For example, poor rebalancing practices between 1995 and 2002 could have shaved 10% off of your portfolio's value.

During a market downturn, only those that know how to play the fluctuations between rallies will make real money. Here are four strategies to working pre- and post-bounce environments to your advantage.

Two tax breaks set to expire on December 31 can be a big help to medical practices. One allows for direct expensing of up to $250,000 in purchases, while through the other you can depreciate up to 50% of the cost of new equipment.

Captive insurance companies can reduce insurance costs, save taxes, protect assets, and transfer business value and family wealth to future generations. Legal changes in the last five years may make this one of the most advantageous times to form one.

While several federal agencies investigate problems with imported drywall, homeowners are in a bind. It's either move out and attempt to sell a home with a major problem, or risk health problems by staying. More bad news: homeowners insurance generally won’t cover drywall replacement costs (an estimated $100,000 price tag).

Tuesday started with modest losses, but sellers have intensified their efforts to push stocks toward their worst single-session percentage loss in one month. Financials have been the primary source of this session's weakness.

By activating receptors on the cholecystokinin peptide hormone in the gut, University of Toronto researchers were able to “rapidly and potently" lower blood glucose levels.

From now until the end of 2013, the FDIC will insure bank deposits for up to $250,000 per depositor; after that, the limit reverts to $100,000. Opening up accounts at several different banks can also bypass the coverage cap, but you’ll have to deal with multiple 1099s come tax time. An easier way to stretch your FDIC coverage is an informal trust arrangement known as a “payable on death” or POD account.

With the restricted panel approach and other circumstances making it difficult to win new patients, there must be something more effective than putting an announcement of availability in the Yellow Pages.

A loop hole in President Obama's credit card reform bill ties your card rate to overall interest rates, and doesn’t require companies to give you 45 days notice of changes. This is a bonanza for card companies, but a pain in the wallet for card holders.

Some referral practices and rationales are quite logical, while others...let's just say they don't smell quite right. Even in my family practice group, where we have some restrictions, any reviews of the subject were usually met with discomfort. Still, I remained curious and identified 200 different specialists that my group referred to over the course of a year. So, why so many different referral docs?

Capnellene, a chemical isolated from the soft coral Capnella imbricata, may enable scientists to create a new treatment for neuropathic pain.

HMOs were conceived in the 1970s to slow the rising costs of healthcare, and despite the many unintended consequences associated with them, eventually succeeded. One thing they didn't resolve, however, was the means and methods of physician referrals, a web that no healthcare debate has thus far attempted to untangle.

What to think of the 50% rally on Wall Street from the lows of March? Doom merchants are doubting the rally's strength and predicting a return to market lows or worse. James Paulson of Wells Capital Management, on the other hand, believes the bears don't realize that the bulls are back in charge.

Survey after survey has shown that primary care doctors are at the low end of the pecking order when it comes to compensation.

To maximize yield in the current low-interest environment, financial experts recommend the CD ladder. These take advantage of higher long-term CD yields without tying up cash for long periods of time.

Is gold an investment with high purchasing power and the only true hedge against inflation, or a speculator's commodity with zero or negative expected return? Depends on who's answering the question. Financial experts give their take on gold's role in today's investment portfolios.

Some experts estimate that distressed properties now account for almost a third of home sales nationwide. But buying a foreclosed home is not like a typical real estate deal and real estate mavens have some tips for would-be bargain hunters.

Museum of American Finance exhibit draws attention to female Wall Street pioneers. Learn about the Queens of Finance and the Witch of Wall Street thru January 16, 2010.

Not only can small practices afford to provide employee benefits beyond the basics, many can’t afford not to. Instituting expanded company benefits can result in substantial cost and tax savings for physicians over paying for them as individuals.

Some estimates peg the average cost of “extra” items for an incoming college freshman at more than $820. Consumer experts have some tips on how to save on those costs.

With the commercial real estate market in tatters, should equity investors be buying real estate investment trusts, or REITs, in anticipation of a coming recovery?

High insurance costs, arcane parking rules, and heavy traffic make owning a car in a major city an expensive and not very enjoyable proposition. One solution to this problem: car sharing.

Now that we've covered the elements of portfolio design, we'll move onto implementation, which is done in three phases: 1) custodian selection, 2) product selection, and 3) selection of asset location.

For most investors, the term "exchange traded fund" is just financial gibberish. Given the many advantages ETFs have over mutual funds, though, it’s worth getting to know them a little better.