The United States has lost its place as the world's most competitive economy, according to a survey released today, falling behind Switzerland mainly because of the financial crisis and accumulated fiscal deficits.
Suppose your client decides to invest in the stock of a European company that is not traded in the United States. How would he report the transactions for tax purposes?
High-income earners are in the government's cross hairs — at both the federal and state levels — and there is little sympathy for those so targeted.
Another team of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney brokers in California, who say they've recently managed about $500 million, has left to set up its own RIA.
Finra is continuing to reach out to the spouses of military personnel to give them the training to help others deal with financial difficulties.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Boston and the Massachusetts chapter of the Financial Planning Association are set to ramp up their groundbreaking free financial-planning coaching service for cancer patients this fall.
Most financial commentators approved when President Obama two weeks ago reappointed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Board chairman. However, in most of the commentaries, the approval was based on the belief that it would be unwise for the president to introduce more uncertainty into the financial markets at this critical period in the recovery.
A bill that would continue to allow investors in Section 529 college savings plans to make two changes each year to their investment allocations appears unlikely to be passed by the House anytime soon, according to industry and Washington insiders.
As the Section 529 college savings plan industry this month enters its most important marketing period, it has turned a blind eye to the unsettling events of the past 12 months.
As wildfires blazed through Angeles National Forest last week, advisers who had weathered other such natural disasters kept their data safe and found ways to connect with their clients.
After the headlines about the IRS' going after secret Swiss bank accounts, investors are learning to their dismay that they could face fines and prosecution for failing to report other foreign assets, such life insurance, to both the IRS and the Treasury Department.
Central United Life Insurance Co. has come out swinging against a lawsuit filed by the Missouri Department of Insurance, which accused the carrier of improperly paying claims to cancer patients.
H&R Block Inc. said today it lost a larger-than-expected $133.6 million in the first quarter, about the same as a year ago, as acquisition expenses and other costs offset slightly higher revenues.
The unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent in August, the highest since June 1983, as employers eliminated a net total of 216,000 jobs.
Many taxpayers believe that they are safe from Internal Revenue Service audits after a certain number of years have passed, but as Stanley Kirk Burrell — better known as Grammy-award-winning rapper MC Hammer — can attest, that isn't always the case.
A South Shore, Ky.-based insurance agent this week was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay almost $400,000 in fines for swindling clients in a Ponzi scheme that involved annuities.
New jobless claims fell slightly last week while the number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose, a sign the job market's recovery will be long and bumpy.
Retailers on today posted sales declines for August as shoppers held back on back-to-school purchases and continued to focus on necessities, raising further concern about the upcoming holiday season.
The amount of money students borrowed for college has risen dramatically in the last year, a development that could be beneficial to Section 529 college savings plans — if the 529 industry can effectively communicate its message, observers noted.
