Odds are better than even that the savage 2007-2009 recession ended the second quarter of this year.
Stock market investors are the first to feel the wind at their backs for a change…but it’s a different story for the legions of workers — including a large swath of middle managers — who are, or will soon […]

The salvation of our economy is not the money being shoveled out the door by our feckless government.
And it’s not the politically well connected banks and declining legacy businesses scooping up all this ill-begotten money.
No. Our dynamism is a function of the vast constellation of small, entrepreneurial, family owned businesses.
This is the well that produces […]

You have no doubt heard the old maxim:
“Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations…”
This should not come as a big surprise to anyone who studies family dynamics.  The penniless immigrant scratches out a marginal existence so that the next generation can earn intellectual capital and go on to create substantial wealth.
So that the third generation can […]

The Solo 401(k) - also known as an Individual 401(k) or a Self-Employed 401(k) - is specially designed for self-employed individuals and allows me to contribute 100% of my self-employment income up to the annual 401(k) limit ($15,500 for 2008 and $16,500 for 2009).
This means if I only earn $16,500, I can stash away the […]

First, a Public Service Announcement
As you’re scrambling to finish up your tax return (or extension!) today, don’t forget that April 15th is also the deadline to get 2008 contributions into your traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA (and probably other IRA types that I’m forgetting to list here). You don’t want to miss out on […]

Free market capitalism has gotten a bad rap from famed economist Joseph Schumpeter’s immortal use of the phrase..”creative destruction”.
The listener tends to hear mostly the destruction part better than the important modifier—creative.
You need to absorb the complete dynamic. It’s hard to feel sorry for typewriter manufacturers who have gone out of business, when you […]

It’s time to fess up.
In my last post, I listed 10 resolutions for the new year. I only wish I had taken my own advice in the past.
It’s always the shoemakers’ children who run about barefooted.
The Ghost of Christmas Past
Years ago, when I ran my own investment real estate brokerage firm, I […]

Now a treat for the overachievers among our readers.
We must first assume that you have punched every ticket suggested so far, and after maxing out the basics of home ownership, funding of your two core retirement accounts, and providing for future health and education funding, you still have room on your plate for more.
This could […]