A View of Health Care from Around the World
July 18, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

The United States health-care system has been impacted by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But how does delivery of health care in the United States compare to that of other nations? And where does the United States rank with respect…Read More

Expansion of Pay As You Earn Program for Student Loans
June 18, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, outstanding student loan debt climbed by $114 billion in 2013, reaching $1.08 trillion at the end of the year (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Quarterly Report on Household Debt and…Read More

Are con artists adopting trendy twists on old scams?
June 17, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

In a word, yes. You may be great at deleting e-mails from Nigerian princes to avoid online phishing, but fraudsters keep coming up with new schemes for prying information or money from potential victims. And while scams sometimes involve hot…Read More

Personal Finance Tips for New Graduates
June 13, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

You’ve marched along to Pomp and Circumstance and collected your diploma–now you’re ready to finally head out on your own. Maybe you have student loans that you need to start paying back. Perhaps you’re looking forward to making your first car purchase…Read More

Why News Headlines Drive Investment Behavior
June 11, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

The following is an excerpt from an article recently written by Jim Parker of Dimensional Fund Advisors. He examines the human instinct to link recent global news events to stock market performance. Understanding how our brains are wired can make…Read More

High-Frequency Trading: Unsafe at Any Speed?
June 6, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

You may have heard news reports recently about the controversy on Wall Street over high-frequency trading. Though the practice isn’t new, it has received fresh attention in recent months as multiple regulatory agencies have launched investigations of high-frequency trading (HFT)…Read More

Highlights from PIMCO Lunch-and-Learn
June 5, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

We held an educational lunch seminar on June 4th, hosted by PIMCO, and the responses from those who attended have been very positive. We plan on providing more of these in the future for small groups. Here are some highlights……Read More

Top 10 Tax Breaks You’ll Miss in 2014
May 23, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

You probably didn’t notice, but when the clock struck midnight on December 31, 2013, a number of popular tax benefits, commonly included in the list of provisions referred to as “tax extenders” expired. While it’s possible that Congress could retroactively…Read More

What is duration, and why should I pay attention to it?
May 20, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

The Federal Reserve’s actions over the next year could be important to bond markets, particularly if and when the Fed decides to increase its target interest rate. Since bond prices typically move in the opposite direction from yields, rising bond…Read More

New Electronic Hand Slapper
May 6, 2014  | By Kevin Smith

The Wealth Management System that tracks and summarizes your financial world now has the ability to send you email alerts. You can setup an alert if your cash gets too low, if you exceed your budget, you incur a large…Read More