Fall will officially start on September 22nd, which means that you may have already seen Halloween candy displayed along the aisles of your local grocery or drug store. It also means that the kids are back to school and you can now redirect your attention back to your money issues, before the onslaught of the holiday season sucks you in. To help, here are 5 Financial Pitfalls to avoid before the end of the year.
Read MoreThe aftermath of Hurricane Harvey will unfold for months to come. Unfortunately, natural disasters have a way of pointing out some of the more unsexy aspects of our financial lives, like the details of property and casualty insurance coverage. Of course the time to review and become familiar with the terms of your policies is not in the aftermath of a severe event, but before it occurs. That said, many victims of a flood learn quickly that standard homeowners’ policies cover structural and water damage only in limited circumstances, like when a falling tree knocks a hole in a roof or breaks a window, allowing rain to fall inside.
Read MoreLast week, House lawmakers passed a bill that threw consumers under the bus. The Financial Choice Act would gut the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010 by giving the president the power to fire the heads of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at any time for any -- or no -- reason. It would also provide Congress with sweeping power over the CFPB's budget, which means that lawmakers could defund the agency entirely. That’s a shame, because in the six years since the CFPB was established, it has provided nearly $12 billion in relief for more than 29 million consumers. The CFPB was created out of Dodd Frank in order to create a single point of accountability for enforcing federal consumer financial laws and protecting consumers in the financial marketplace. The agency’s main goals are to:
Read MoreWhile most Americans were glued to former FBI Director James Comey’s testimonybefore Congress last week, two financial regulatory measures dropped below the radar. House lawmakers passed a bill that would gut the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010. If passed under its current form, the Financial Choice Act would give the president the power to fire the heads of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at any time for any -- or no -- reason. It would also give Congress power over the CFPB's budget, which means that lawmakers could defund the agency entirely. That’s a shame, because in the near six years since the CFPB was established, it has provided over $12 billion in relief for millions of consumers.
Read MoreNow that the Trump Administration has declared its intention to delay and potentially roll-back the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, which would force financial professionals and their firms’ overseeing the nearly $3 trillion in retirement savings, to work in their clients’ best interest, it may be a good time to review your relationship with your current advisor, stock broker or insurance salesperson. Here is an updated list of my “Ten Questions to Ask a Financial Pro”:
Read MoreShame Definition, according to Merriam-Webster:
