My father passed away several years ago. My parent’s home has long been paid for and my mother probably has roughly $120,000 in liquid assets (bank accounts, CDs and a retirement account). My sister and I are the only children, and our names are on the deed as second life…
Tag: Banking/Credit
Why you can count on the Dow making changes in February
Investors can count on the Dow Jones Industrial Average changing its members next month, for the first time in nearly four years, for several reasons. The question is, who’s out and who’s in? How and when the keepers of the Dow DJIA choose the stocks they add and those they…
I want to blow the whistle on my former employer’s ‘shady practices,’ but I signed an NDA. Can I break it?
I didn’t realize what I was signing at the time, as those documents were buried among a bunch of other paperwork. I left the company because they lied to me about bonuses and how the pay was structured, as well as about their code of ethics. It turns out I’m…
‘I didn’t see how this could happen’: My brother drained $200K from my mother’s savings
I read and hear so much about adult siblings who always got along, but suddenly start fighting among themselves when they are about to inherit their parents’ estate. I didn’t see how this could happen to my family — until now. We’re not at that point, but things are getting…
Vanguard sees a recession in 2023 — and one ‘silver lining’ for investors
The last 12 months was a year of fast-rising inflation, fast-rising interest rates and fast-rising questions about a future recession. Prices went up while stock markets and savings account balances went down, leaving consumers and investors dizzy and their wallets hurting. There may be more financial pain, that’s pretty sure…
‘Is my husband the cheapest man in America?’ We only eat out on our anniversary, and I don’t even have an engagement ring.
My husband never goes out, and he only reluctantly takes holidays — except if we stay in a cabin in the mountains, and even then he doesn’t see why we should be paying for our mortgage and paying to rent somewhere else too. He has never bought me a single…
‘She needs the money for care’: My 103-year-old grandmother’s adviser bought 5 bank stocks. She lost $300,000. Can I sue?
I am the trustee/executor for my 103-year-old grandmother. She is alive and mostly doing fine. Lately, she has been allowing me access to her finances so there are no surprises when she dies. I just reviewed her investment-account statements and found that her adviser bought hundreds of thousands of dollars’…
My sister squandered our parents’ millions, asked me to give her $10,000, then made me a tempting offer. Should I take it?
This story may remind you of a fairy tale — a cautionary one. My financial-whiz parents earned $4 million in 1970s dollars, and retired early. They hoped we three children would go into their business. My older brother and sister did, but I chose college and graduate school, paying for…
Why does my credit score keep changing? And 5 other questions to ask right now about your credit score.
April is National Financial Literacy Month. To mark the occasion, MarketWatch will publish a series of “Financial Fitness” articles to help readers improve their fiscal health, and offer advice on how to save, invest and spend their money wisely. Read more here. Some things are a mystery. For millions of Americans,…
‘It broke me’: Everyone says you need power of attorney, but nobody tells you how hard it is to use
When I went to the bank to execute my mother’s durable power of attorney during her recent hospital stay, the manager peered at me through the glass partition at the front desk and shook his head no. He didn’t even look at the sheaf of properly signed and notarized papers…