As we enter tax season, many issues abound. Congress is back in session and, you never know, may at some point start discussing ideas for tax reform. Whether or not Congress tackles reform provisions this year, things may change within the tax landscape. That’s because every year there are a plethora of provisions that will…

What a difference a couple of years made — from challenging times in Europe to the plummet in domestic home values to unemployment approaching double digits. The economic recovery in the U.S. may have been slow, but it has hardly been nonexistent. As we gaze into the crystal ball for 2014, the typical signs and…

One of the hallmarks of contemporary society is that we want everything right now. We can communicate 24/7 via text, phone, email, tweets and posts and wouldn’t dream of driving on a long trip without a fully charged phone. Remember when cars used to break down on the side of the road and you had…

The usual pundits and prognosticators are at it again — making all sorts of predictions and observations about how this next year will play out. For starters, the New Year will get a little darker. That’s because manufacturers will cease making 40- and 60-watt incandescent bulbs, having already phased out the production of 100- and…

Well, perhaps we missed the excitement of yet another year-end cliffhanger like we had in 2012. This year, Congress got it together long enough to recess with a budget deal ready for the president’s signature. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 was initiated by dealmakers Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Let’s…

Well, perhaps we missed the excitement of yet another year-end cliffhanger like we had in 2012. This year, Congress got it together long enough to recess with a budget deal ready for the president’s signature. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 was initiated by dealmakers Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Let’s…

Despite the economic setback and slow recovery in recent years, or perhaps because of them, it seems Americans may be on a trajectory for higher income — if not higher income, then perhaps greater satisfaction with the income that they earn. Here’s a recent round-up of studies about current demographic groups and their earning prospects.…

Every day we see reports, surveys, research and analysis of data that’s been commissioned and compiled by government agencies, private businesses and third party think tanks. While much of the information is informative, it usually indicates a larger story, or trend, and should be reviewed within a certain context. For example, a recent jobs report…

At the end of last summer, I pulled into a gas station in which a sign over the posted gas prices read, “Swimsuit season is over; Krispy Kreme is here.” It was an unconventional yet palpable indicator that summer had ended. Some signs require a little more technical interpretation, like the ones used to indicate…

With all of the noise surrounding the Affordable Care Act’s botched Health Insurance Marketplace launch and the problem of individual policy cancellations this year, little other significant legislation is getting worked on in Congress. The federal budget debate keeps getting pushed into the future, and any chance of tackling tax reform seems a distant promise.…

Originally, the phrase “ups-a-daisy” was uttered by parents as an exclamation when tossing a child playfully into the air or when encouraging him to get up after a fall. Nowadays, we often hear it as “whoopsie daisy” or “oopsie daisy,” and it means, in today’s vernacular, “my bad.” Recently we heard a version from President…

Just about everyone gets something new during the holiday season. Sometimes it’s exactly what we wanted, and we love it and use it all year long. Sometimes it’s exactly what we wanted, but it turns out not to be as great as we expected, so we use it for a time until the shiny newness…