7 Financial Advisors I Would Like to Punch in the Face

Wicked Left Hook People who know me know I’m not a very violent guy. I’ve never been in a fist fight in my entire life, I very seldom ever yell (except when the St. Louis Cardinals would blow a four run lead in the bottom of the ninth), and I cover my face with a [...]

Kansas Governor Proposes Significant Income Tax Reform, Reducing Rate From 6.45% to 4.9%

In his State of the State address, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) outlined a major income tax overhaul: I’m proposing a major step in overhauling our state tax code to make it fairer, flatter, and simpler.  My tax plan will lower individual income tax rates for all Kansans.  It brings the highest tax rate down [...]

Is Tesco’s big share price drop a warning sign for a market crash?

The battering Tesco shares have taken as spooked investors ditched them can be taken as a clear warning that 2012 has the potential for a nasty stock market crash. Tesco delivered a trading update that was poor in terms of UK sales. The supermarket giant is struggling in its own backyard, as consumers cut back [...]

Closer Look at a Whole Life Insurance Sales Pitch

Over on FreeMoneyFinance there was a discussion in the comments a long while ago about certain insurance investments.  One person there linked to this video on Youtube.   I found the video interesting in itself.  The video is comparing a cash value policy to buying term and investing the difference.  I noted the following points from [...]

Top 10 Best (and Free) Online Budget Tools

Get your budget on In these tough economic times, many recognize the importance of financial planning. You want to ensure that your resources are directed to best effect, and that means creating a spending plan that works well for your situation, and helps you prepare for the future. Good budgeting software can help you take [...]

Fact Checking the Fact Checkers: Missing the Point on Tax Compliance

Speaker John Boehner and Texas Governor Rick Perry recently claimed that federal income tax compliance costs about $500 billion per year, apparently basing it on a 2005 report of ours in which we project that compliance costs will be $483 billion in 2015. Politifact rightly points out that our projection to 2011 is there as [...]

Peer-to-peer firm Quakle collapses: How safe is social lending for savers?

Some savers whoveploughed money into peer-to-peer lenders (or are thinking about doing so)are fearing for the safety of their cash following the collapse of loans company Quakle(). Dan Hyde explains how the industry works, why thelikes of Zopa, Funding Circle and RateSetter are different, and why you shouldnt panic. This is not the sort of [...]