Your child has finally finished college and started his/her first full-time job. What is the most important financial advice you can give your child? The first piece of financial advice you should give to your child is that they participate in their 401(k) plan as soon as they are eligible. The quality of your child’s [...]

The advice sounds simple enough — to force yourself to save regularly, treat those savings as a bill to yourself and pay that bill first every month. But when you’re faced with a stack of bills that includes your mortgage payment, your car lease, and groceries to feed the kids, you’re likely to skip paying [...]

Mangingmoney.com recently asked an interesting quesion, “is 10% enough for retirement?” A common rule of thumb when planning for retirement is to save 10% of your gross income during your working years. Since this rule of thumb has been around for a long time, it’s logical to question whether it’s still an appropriate guideline. Several [...]

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley joined the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 35 states in announcing an agreement with LifeLock, Inc., a Tempe, Arizona-based identity theft protection provider, resolving an investigation into the company’s misleading advertising practices. LifeLock has agreed to pay $11 million in restitution to consumers that will be distributed through a [...]

BOSTON – Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has reached a $3.6 million settlement agreement with Actavis Elizabeth LLC (“Actavis”), an Elizabeth, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, resolving a Massachusetts False Claims Act case pending in United States District Court in Boston. “Actavis is an international generic pharmaceutical company based in Iceland that was founded in 1956 [...]

There is a lot of misconception and misunderstanding amongst people regarding the social security benefits. Most of us who want to get social security benefits hardly know how one can maximize the benefits. Let’s check out seven things that one should know about social security: Calculation of your social security benefit: The benefit that you [...]

“The Mass Save Great Appliance Exchange is the latest example of the Commonwealth’s use of federal Recovery dollars to lower household energy costs, cut energy waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “I am delighted that launching this program will be part of our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.” [...]

Governor Deval Patrick today announced that the Commonwealth’s bond ratings have been affirmed by the three major rating agencies, all of whom cited the Governor’s responsible and proactive stewardship of the Commonwealth’s finances during the current economic downturn as a leading credit strength. Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s all affirmed the [...]

There is a connection between fiat currencies and trade deficits, and many cynics have argued that the US dollar’s status as global reserve currency allowed Americans to consume more than they produced for decades. However, this “deficit without tears” argument is sometimes overstated. To gain a deeper understanding of both monetary theory and international trade, [...]

“In the United States alone, consumers spent about US $110 billion on fast food in 2000 (which increased from US$6 billion in 1970). The National Restaurant Association forecasted that fast food restaurants in the U.S. would reach US$142 billion in sales in 2006, a 5% increase over 2005. In comparison, the full-service restaurant segment of [...]