Blog

Published on March 23rd, 2021 In recent months, Procter & Gamble has raised prices for its Tide, Gain, Downy and Bounce product portfolio. It recently announced that this spring, consumers also will start paying more for many of its personal health care brands. The company is hardly alone. Nestle, Danone, Unilever and other consumers goods…

Published on March 16th, 2021 This year, the official start date for filing 2021 income tax returns was Jan. 24, and the season ends on April 18 for most filers. According to the IRS, the typical period for refunds is three weeks or less. Be aware that you can speed up the process by filing…

Published on March 9th, 2021 Americans have largely been on one of two tracks since the beginning of the pandemic: Those who suffered income and net worth losses and those who gained wealth. A good example of this was the result of relief checks mailed out by the federal government. For some households, that money…

Published on March 2nd, 2021 The pandemic that started in 2020 accelerated a popular work trend that had not been widely embraced by employers before then: working from home (WFH). According to a recent survey by SmallBizGenius, 4.3 million remote workers in the U.S. have an arrangement where they work from home at least half…

Published on February 23rd, 2021 The pandemic has become a new variable in deciding when to retire. Some near-retirees lost their jobs and decided to go ahead and turn in the towel. Others were focused on the health risk and determined it was better to retire while they were still in good health. Still, others…

Published on February 16th, 2021 The last month of 2021 was filled with lots of new information — the new omicron variant of the coronavirus first hit U.S. shores, along with cautions that its level of vaccine resistance is best mitigated by a booster shot.1   As to be expected, the investment markets took a…

Published on February 9th, 2021 It seems that millions of taxpayers still have not received their tax refunds from 2020 and even 2019.1 A major reason is due to the defunding of the IRS. Between 2010 and 2019, the department’s funding was cut by 20% in inflation-adjusted dollars, which has led to a 22% reduction…

Published on February 2nd, 2021 “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett   “You always pass failure on your way to success.” – Mickey Rooney   “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” – James Joyce1   “Failure is success in progress.” – Albert Einstein2   “Success consists of going from failure to failure…

Published on January 26th, 2021 Conglomerates are parent companies that own a number of large subsidiaries. They became popular back in the 1960s with corporations like ITT, LTV and GE, to name a few. In recent years, behemoth American conglomerates have spun off, sold off and pared down.1   However, there are ways to invest…

Published on January 19th, 2021 Inflation was already on the rise before we learned about the omicron variant. Now on top of supply-chain shortages and transportation disruptions, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently observed that a resurgence of COVID-19 cases could reduce the consumer-driven boom we’ve enjoyed for the past few months. Concerns about safety…