Wealth management

Experiencing a critical illness, such as cancer, a heart attack, or stroke, can reduce a family’s income by more than $12,000 in the first year alone — even with medical coverage in place — primarily due to the inability to work, according to newly released studies.

IMGCAP(1)]It’s all but expected in Boston (and maybe anywhere other than New York) that baseball fans hate the Yankees.

Credit card companies have been prohibited from charging their customers inactivity fees under the latest set of protections that went into effect from the Credit Card Act.

IMGCAP(1)]One of the most popular investment activities that has experienced dramatic growth in the past five years is retail foreign exchange trading.

A new study finds that investors are not only skeptical of upbeat financial forecasts from the management at public companies, but they often believe downbeat forecasts are overly optimistic and less credible than positive news about the company’s outlook.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has hired a group of agencies to lead a branding and public awareness campaign to raise the profile of the board.

Americans continued to show concern about the state of the economy and their personal finances in August, according to a new survey that found feelings of financial security once again on the decline.

Bankruptcy filings rose 20 percent in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010, the highest number of bankruptcy filings for any period since many of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 took effect.

The past two years have not been overly kind to the life settlement market.

CFP OFFERS NEW DESIGNATION

Affluent families are not feeling so affluent these days. The financial crisis has left its mark and eroded a tremendous amount of confidence, as well as wealth.

Under new regulations proposed by the Treasury Department, Americans who receive federal benefits like monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security income would no longer be able to receive these funds by check, and groups including Consumers Union are asking the Treasury to reconsider.

Congressman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has introduced legislation that would allow companies to set up automatic payroll deposit Individual Retirement Accounts, or Auto IRAs, for workers who do not have access to employer-provided qualified pension plans.

Sixty percent of the private equity executives surveyed by accounting firm Eisner LLP have seen an increase in debt financing availability in the first and second quarters of this year, compared to a year ago.

CBIZ has acquired South Winds Inc., a Baltimore-based retirement consulting firm, which does business under the name Benexx.

CPA and business advisory firm Argy, Wiltse & Robinson announced that Johnson Advisors LLC has changed its name to Argy Accounting Solutions LLC and Argy’s Family Wealth Management Group has changed its name to Family Tax Advisory Group.

Thirty-four percent of employed Americans plan to look for a new job when the economy gets better, according to a new survey by Deloitte.

Shareholder votes on executive compensation at U.S. firms have resulted in an average single-year pay drop for CEOs of about $7.3 million or about 38 percent in companies where pay was excessive, according to a new study to be presented by the American Accounting Association.

IMGCAP(1)]Capital market regulations often have unintended consequences.

One out of every five senior citizens has been the victim of a financial scam, according to a recent survey by Infogroup/ORC, and the Illinois CPA Society has published a set of tips to help them avoid scams and protect their money: