How the New Wealth Taxes Will Hit You

The health-care bill that Congress passed in March contained two surprising new taxes to help pay for the changes: an extra 0.9% levy on wages for couples earning more than $250,000 ($200,000 for singles) and a new 3.8% tax on investment income on those same people (technically, people with “adjusted gross incomes” above those amounts).

Each

Continue reading How the New Wealth Taxes Will Hit You

Four Ways to Build Wealth

Most investors know (or should know) the tried-and-true methods to build wealth. Shift money automatically from your paycheck to a savings plan; take advantage of your employer’s matching contributions to 401(k) plans; eliminate (virtually) all consumer debt; track and trim household expenses; reduce investment fees; and, of course, save more than you’re saving now. But

Continue reading Net Worth: Four Ways to Build Wealth

Wealth and Happiness: Survey Shows Satisfaction from Saving Money

A new survey from the Affluence Collaborative that touches on wealth and happiness found that more than half the women said they get more satisfaction from saving money.

When given a list of 22 activities that contribute to their current sense of happiness, shopping for luxuries ranked 20th, barely beating smoking.

A  third of the women in

Continue reading Wealth and Happiness: Survey Shows Satisfaction from Saving Money

Retirement Savings - Families Need To Prepare For Retirement

The percentage of American workers with virtually no retirement savings grew for the third straight year, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The percentage of workers who said they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010, from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s annual Retirement Confidence Survey. That

Continue reading Retirement Savings – Families Need To Prepare For Retirement

How can patients cut health costs?

I’m not the first one to note that health insurers’ use of the term “explanation of benefits” is an oxymoron. For my part, when I get an EOB in the mail, I scan quickly to the “patient owes” part and pretty much skip the rest.

See the full article

Save Money On Prescription Drugs

Many Americans pay far more than they have to for medicines. Here’s how you can save money.

Part of the problem is that each health plan covers prescriptions using a different formulary and cost-sharing scheme, so consumers often only see what the co-pay is. But this is changing as more people become uninsured

Continue reading Save Money On Prescription Drugs – Here’s How