WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) – The election results were
clear, b ut the path forward is not. With Washington moving on
with essentially the same trilateral team that froze fiscal
policy for the last two years, it’s not obvious or certain what
will happen to taxes, interest rates, markets and the economy
under President Barack Obama, the Democrat-controlled Senate and
the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

“We still live with uncertainty on this that puts us all in
planning-land dilemma,” says Greg Rosica, a tax partner with
Ernst & Young. That doesn’t mean individuals can’t start to
place some bets. There will be financial effects they can’t
control and some they can.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pat Groover called her insurance company on Tuesday morning, the day after a massive tree gave in to storm Sandy’s winds, ripped the front off a neighbor’s house and pulled siding and gutters off of Groover’s home. The path of destruction didn’t stop – the tree came to rest on Groover’s car in her Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, driveway.

The tree is still there. Groover is afraid to have it removed until she hears from her insurer, and that hasn’t happened yet.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It is no surprise that as the baby boom approaches its Social Security years, it is turning the decision about when to start collecting benefits from an automatic move into a major planning and research opportunity.

Having intensively looked into car seats and college admissions for their kids and tried to map out careers and 401(k) plans, boomers now will focus attention on squeezing Social Security for all it is worth.

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) – It is no surprise that as the
baby boom approaches its Social Security years, it is turning
the decision about when to start collecting benefits from an
automatic move into a major planning and research opportunity.

Having intensively looked into car seats and college
admissions for their kids and tried to map out careers and
401(k) plans, boomers now will focus attention on squeezing
Social Security for all it is worth.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nobody wants to feel sorry for life insurance companies. They’re just the annoying folk who make you think about death, cash your checks, and then give you grief if you ever have to file a claim, right?

Don’t be so cynical. These are challenging times for the insurance industry. Company representatives meeting in Washington for the annual American Council of Life Insurers conference seemed downright gloomy, and were eager to tick off the troubles facing them.

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Nobody wants to feel sorry
for life insurance companies. They’re just the annoying folk who
make you think about death, cash your checks, and then give you
grief if you ever have to file a claim, right?

Don’t be so cynical. These are challenging times for the
insurance industry. Company representatives meeting in
Washington for the annual American Council of Life Insurers
conference seemed downright gloomy, and were eager to tick off
the troubles facing them.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For almost a year now, investors have been flinging money at municipal bonds like they were $20 iPads.

In the week ending October 10, U.S. munibond mutual funds had their biggest week since April, with nearly $915 million in new inflows, according to Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company. Individual investors bought 1.9 bonds for each one they sold.

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) – It’s time to watch Washington
to see just how bad your New Year’s eve is going to be. Without
any action in the Capitol, the U.S. economy is said to be poised
to fall off of a “fiscal cliff.”

Projected increases in taxes and cuts in spending would
throw the economy into another recession, says the Congressional
Budget Office, and it could throw your family finances over the
edge, a cc ording to analysts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It’s time to watch Washington to see just how bad your New Year’s eve is going to be. Without any action in the Capitol, the U.S. economy is said to be poised to fall off of a “fiscal cliff.”

Projected increases in taxes and cuts in spending would throw the economy into another recession, says the Congressional Budget Office, and it could throw your family finances over the edge, according to analysts.

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) – It’s time to watch Washington
to see just how bad your New Year’s eve is going to be. Without
any action in the Capitol, the U.S. economy is said to be poised
to fall off of a “fiscal cliff.”

Projected increases in taxes and cuts in spending would
throw the economy into another recession, says the Congressional
Budget Office, and it could throw your family finances over the
edge, a cc ording to analysts.