JSOnline Headlines: Business - Personal Finance

• Some coin flips for 2006
  I've never been one for market predictions, and I stand firm that personal-finance journalists have no business...
• Capture true spirit of giving
  Shoppers trampling and knocking down one another in their mad rush to the store. Employees blithely using office...
• Making hay from the 401(k)
  Michael J. Francis was working as an investment broker in the 1980s when a request from a customer accidentally...
• Start minimizing taxes
  In 2006, taxpayers get a break, of sorts.Next year, April 15 is on a Saturday, so returns are not due until midnight the...
• Plenty of books teach kids money skills
  Q.Do you have a recommendation for a book on kids and finance/investing in the stock market? My...
• Investment portfolios can be a risky business
  Judging by the multitude of "risk tolerance" or "investor risk profile" questionnaires I have filled out lately, I...
• More is more for successful savings
  From detailed analysis and research, examining and tweaking data spanning 15 years, a major conclusion is...
• Capital gains on funds may induce tax shock
  Elizabeth Schuller understands some basic financial concepts:"My mother always tells me every day: 'Are you...
• Do-it-yourself investors could consider low-cost annuities
  The rap against variable annuities is that steep surrender charges can lock you into a bad contract and high annual...
• 401(k) plans soon to get Roth option
  Officials at the R&B Wagner Co. are about to make a small decision with large consequences - whether to allow employees...
• When it comes to your credit, you better know the score
  Want to raise your credit score? Try maxing out your credit card, to show you can handle credit, as long as you can...
• Recovery takes time, courage
  Amid the misery and destruction brought by Hurricanes Katrina and then Rita, with so many lives shattered and...
• Financial plans must fit all sorts
  Twenty-five years ago, when another newspaper hired me for a job I thought was more "prestigious," I felt the need to...
• Safety net main draw of income riders
  In June, I wrote that my wife, Georgina, had bought a variable annuity offering a guarantee of lifetime income without...
• Life insurance investment might be worth a very careful look
  How is this for an idea? Free the "lazy" dollars trapped in the equity of your home by mortgaging it 100%. Start...
• Get a jump start on your 2005, '06 tax planning
  This time of year, the last thing you'd expect to find is a column about tax planning. Which is why I wrote one now,...
• Heavy debt loads raise odds for economic tumult in U.S.
  New York - Buy now, pay later: It's been the mantra of American consumers for decades.The results are obvious in the...
• You can save at the gas pump, and that's not the only place
  Look at the bright side. Being pinched at the pump is prompting many of us to take a harder look at our...
• Get 'em young: Used correctly, children's allowances can be valuable tool
  An allowance is more than money. Used correctly, it is a tool to teach about life.Parents who remember that simple...
• Decision to cash out your property value requires careful evaluation
  Like so many others, the beachside house my wife, Georgina, and I bought in Vero Beach, Fla., five years ago has nearly...