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Forget pity, just party if you have investment losers
For three long years, the stock market has coughed, sputtered and skidded, wiping out trillions of dollars in net worth. Through it all, many investors have clung to money-losing investments with a mixture of hope and shame.
By MARK SCHWANHAUSSER / San Jose Mercury News
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GAIL MARKSJARVIS: Brother doesn't always know best
Q. My brother told me to buy a So Gen gold fund because he's done very well with it. But I also bought Lawson Software stock a couple of years ago when my brother suggested it. The stock was doing great, and then after I bought it all it did was lose money. What do you think of the So Gen gold fund? I don't have any other investments except for a Fidelity fund at work, and I want to retire in 12 years.
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Investors must understand fund payout
Q: I recently noticed on my discount brokerage statement that some of my mutual fund shares are increasing in number while the share value has gone down.
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Don't take savings bonds at face value
Q. Ten years ago, I bought a $5,000 ... EE bond and it has $10,000 on the face of the bond. ... I'm quite sure they told me it'd be due in 10 years. Well, I went to cash it after the 10 years, and it's about $9,031, and they told me it's on account of the interest rates. ... My question to you: why isn't it at the $10,000?
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Set holidays aside and think taxes
I know this may be hard, but take a break from your holiday shopping and partying and think about your taxes. You may be late already. You should have started your tax planning last January. For example, financial experts say you shouldn't wait until December to put money in a tax-deferred Individual Retirement Account. If you wait, you miss out on whatever earnings you might have realized during the entire year.
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By MICHELLE SINGLETARY,
Columnist,
12/13/2002 09:56 AM PST)
Hey, there's nothing wrong with regifting
I regift. And, I'm not ashamed to say so. I admit that when I receive gifts for my kids or myself that are too small, too big, out of season, inappropriate, duplicates or not quite right, I often rewrap them and give them away to others.
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BY MICHELLE SINGLETARY,
Columnist,
12/11/2002 12:42 PM PST)
Holidays inspire donations for needy
For many Americans, the holidays are a time of giving to family and friends - and to needy people they might never know.
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EILEEN ALT POWELL,
Associated Press,
12/11/2002 12:02 PM PST)
0-percent rate may be tricky
A 0-percent rate sounds like a great way to pay pesky holiday bills. Can't beat zero, right?
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By SUSAN TOMPOR,
Detroit Free Press,
12/11/2002 08:36 AM PST)
Identification theft is becoming big business
You can take all the steps you want to protect yourself against identity theft: Guard your wallet, shred your personal financial papers before throwing them in the trash, monitor your credit reports.
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BY BROOKE A. MASTERS and CAROLINE E. MAYER,
Washington Post,
12/10/2002 11:29 AM PST)
Factors when timing start of Social Security checks
If you think newspapering is a high-paying trade, let me tell you about my first full year in the business at a dinky paper outside New York. In 1975, I made $7,908 - about the same as $26,000 today.
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By JEFF BROWN,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
12/10/2002 11:23 AM PST)
How to keep holiday bills within reason
In this season of "buy now, pay later," debt counselors warn that bills rung up today can haunt consumers long after the holiday decorations have been put away.
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By KATHY KRISTOF,
Columnist,
12/10/2002 11:21 AM PST)
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Market downturn forces online investors, brokerages to adapt
Recent years have seen stock trading, banking, credit card applications, insurance and loan shopping gain major footholds with Internet users. But online investing, which roared into the new century as a killer application for the Internet, lately has slumped like a dog on the Dow.
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