Lifestyle

The good news for ski resort operators is that there’s plenty of snow around in most ski areas. The bad news is that the faltering economy is keeping many skiers at home.

Recognizing that many taxpayers are facing economic hardships, the IRS recently announced that it would be more lenient to those who are unable to pay what they owe. In making the announcement, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman made it clear that, while the agency recognized that taxpayers may be in need of some flexibility with regard to their tax payments, it also intended to enforce the tax laws.

�The physician must respect the dignity of all persons and respect their uniqueness.� Those words are from the American College of Physicians Ethics Manual, and should serve as a guiding light for all physicians. But according to recent surveys, all too often those words ring hollow.

If you had been listening to John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, before the bear market sent stock prices into the deep freeze, your portfolio might not be unscathed right now, but its wounds would most likely be fewer and less severe.

General George Patton once said, "If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking." That seems to be what is happening today as the stock market careens higher like a mad roller coaster only to suddenly drop in a steep descent.

As GMAC, Chrysler Financial, and FordCredit, the lending arms of the Big Three auto makers, tighten credit standards, auto sales have plunged to their lowest level in almost 25 years.

Several weeks ago, I was sitting at a dinner meeting when a new acquaintance asked me what I did for a living. I mentioned that I was a healthcare consultant who worked with physician practices to improve processes, patient satisfaction, and efficiency.

If you buy a car made by GM, Ford, or Chrysler, and the auto maker then goes bankrupt, what happens to the warranty?

By almost any measure, 2008 will go down as one of the worst years in Wall Street history. Just about every investment category suffered big-time losses, led by emerging markets and followed closely by domestic equities.

How many new lawsuits do you think are filed in the United States each year? 1,800? 18,000? 1.8 million? Would you be surprised to hear that all of these choices are wrong? Nearly 18 million new civil lawsuits will be filed this year in the state and federal court systems. That equates to about 1 every 15 seconds.

How would you like to make your grandchildren rich? Would it put a smile on your face to ensure that your great-grandchildren never have to worry about money? It’s easier than you might think if you have an Individual Retirement Account.

In this unprecedented economic environment, you have to make critical decisions and changes to keep your practice healthy. Your patients will always need you. Can you be there for them? How can you continue to provide your current level of care?

When you graduated from medical school, your Uncle Harry gave you a savings bond to help start your career. You never cashed it and now it’s lost. But it’s not gone forever.

A few years ago, stock analysts were being taken to task for not issuing plain-language securities ratings like "buy," "sell," and "hold." Critics came down especially hard on the scarcity of "sell" ratings, accusing analysts of not wanting to upset current or potential investment banking clients.

As early as 2001, a group of more than a dozen investment specialists including money managers, consultants, quantitative analysts and fund-of funds executives questioned Madoff’s consistency of returns.

If reviewing your portfolio results gives you acid indigestion, you can at least be glad if you’re not one of Bernard Madoff’s clients, almost all of whom are down 100% instead of the mere 40% or 50% that most stock investors are out this year.

The office area of your practice where patients sit prior to being called in for their appointment has traditionally been called the waiting room, and with good reason�patients wait there. But waiting, contrary to many patient experiences, does not have to be tedious. In fact, it can be a positive experience.

As job losses mount and auto insurance premiums go higher, more motorists are driving without insurance, making the chances of being involved in a crash with an uninsured driver a lot higher.

As 2008 grinds to a close, economic uncertainty has reappeared in a big way after 7 bullish years. Physicians will face a host of challenges in 2009, including continued declines in reimbursement, a new administration likely to increase taxes on capital gains and high earners, and the possibility of sweeping changes to our healthcare system on the distant horizon.

When you use a vehicle in your medical practice, you can choose either of two ways to deduct your expenses. You can keep track of your actual costs for gasoline, maintenance, and other expenses, or you can use the standard mileage rate set by the IRS. Most taxpayers opt to use the IRS standard rate.

Now that Wall Street’s giant investment banks have proven themselves hopelessly corrupt, colossally incompetent, and spectacularly insolvent, it’s important to understand your options. Investors have every reason to be concerned about their financial institutions. There is an alternative. You don’t have to take it anymore.

The market mostly goes down. Your portfolio does too. Only your cash and bonds are providing portfolio stability.

For several years the trend in health insurance, especially in larger companies, is to shift more of the cost of coverage to the employees. One strategy is to offer employees a choice between a high-deductible, high co-payment plan with lower premiums; and a plan with lower deductibles and co-pays that will cost the employee more in premiums.

As a physician, you know it takes many different disciplines working together to achieve the maximum well-being of your patient. You cannot prescribe effectively without reviewing both the patient’s history as well as the clinical picture. A similar approach can yield success when investing.

People close to or in retirement need investments that will beat inflation. CDs—one of the lowest-risk investment options available—won’t do it in the current market. So how can you top inflation without exposing yourself too heavily to the stock market?

With financial markets in the middle of a perfect storm and a new administration heading for Washington, some time-honored year-end tax-cutting strategies may not be practical this year.

End-of-year portfolio rebalancing, which has become an annual ritual for many savvy investors, may strike fear into the hearts of some this time around.

Burnout. Webster�s online dictionary defines it as �fatigue, frustration, or apathy resulting from prolonged stress, overwork or intense activity.�

To many financial experts, trying to forecast a market bottom is a fool’s game. In recent weeks, however, many non-fools, including investment legend Warren Buffett and Bill Miller, whose Legg Mason Value Trust fund beat the S&P500 for 15 consecutive years, have told investors that the market had finally bottomed out.

According to the tax law, you can give $12,000 a year to each person on your gift list without incurring a gift tax. With the market featuring fire-sale prices, that could add up to a lot of shares in someone’s stocking if you choose to give them stocks.