Upcoming Topics for Financial Briefs

February 2008:

• Securing Your Financial Life
• Control Your Spending
• Being Named a Guardian
• Give Your Kids a Good Financial Start
• Do You Need a Prenuptial Agreement? (substitute feature article)

January 2008:

• How Long Will You Have to Work?
• Encourage Your Child to Participate
• Do You Really Need 70%?
• Draw Down Retirement Funds Carefully (substitute feature article)

December 2007:

• Will Low Inflation Continue?
• What Is Happening to Long-Term Interest Rates?
• Narrowing the Wage Gap
• The State of Personal Savings
• Declining Health Insurance Coverage (substitute feature article)

November 2007:

• Squeezed by Competing Needs
• Should You Borrow from Your 401(k) Plan?
• What Happens When ARMs Reset?
• Why Are You Buying a Home?
• Why Do You Need an Estate Plan? (substitute feature article)

October 2007:

• Evaluating Stock Investments
• Assessing Stock Returns
• Age for "Kiddie Tax" Raised Again
• Dealing with Stock Price Declines
• Clean Up Your Portfolio (substitute feature article)

September 2007:

• Tax Planning for Major Life Events
• Investment Tax Strategies
• 2007 Marginal Tax Rates by Tax Filing Status
• What's Your Marginal Tax Rate?
• Selling Your Home at a Loss (substitute feature article)

August 2007:

• Do You Need Bonds in Your Portfolio?
• What Are Zero-Coupon Bonds?
• Muni Bond Tips
• The Basics of Preferred Stocks
• Bonds and Maturity Dates (substitute feature article)

July 2007:

• Plan for 2010 Roth Conversions
• Rollovers for Nonspouse Beneficiaries Are Complicated
• Undoing a Roth Conversion
• Why Aren't 401(k) Plan Balances Larger?
• Taking Minimum Required Distributions (substitute feature article)

June 2007:

• Gauging an Investment's Risk
• Where Should You Hold Investments?
• Watch Out for Internet Fraud
• What Is Monte Carlo Analysis?
• Know When You Want to Exit (substitute feature article)

May 2007:

• An Investment Plan for College Costs
• The Basics of Financial Aid
• Take Another Look at Section 529 Plans
• Will Your Child Finish College in Four Years?
• What Is More Important? (substitute feature article)

April 2007:

• Should You Start a Gifting Strategy?
• Married Couples and Their Estate Plans
• Using IRA Distributions for Charitable Contributions
• Organizing Your Estate for Heirs
• Make Sure Your Children Have a Guardian (substitute feature article)

March 2007:

• Moving Gently into Retirement
• Make Conservative Assumptions
• Your Mortgage and Your Retirement
• How Much Can You Withdraw?
• Finding Money to Save (substitute feature article)

February 2007:

• Practical Implications of Investment Theory
• Using Average Returns in an Investment Program
• Before Purchasing That Investment
• Have You Rebalanced?
• Investing Tendencies (substitute feature article)

January 2007:

• Get the Basics Right
• Preventing Identity Theft
• Money and Happiness
• Loan Carefully
• Check All Factors before Switching Jobs (substitute feature article)

December 2006:

• Protecting Your Earning Power
• Coping with Long-Term-Care Costs
• Review Your Personal Liability Coverage
• Life Insurance and Estate Planning
• Basics about Insurance (substitute feature article)

November 2006:

• Retirement Planning Throughout Your Life
• The Freeze Is On
• Clarification on IRA Disclaimers
• Leave Your 401(k) Funds Alone
• The Dangers of Delaying Retirement Savings (substitute feature article)

October 2006:

• Consider These Tax Planning Strategies
• Who Is Affected by the AMT?
• The Basics of CRTs
• What Is the Marriage Penalty?
• Donating Your Vehicle to Charity (substitute feature article)

September 2006:

• Should You Favor Growth or Value Investing?
• When Should You Sell?
• Reviewing a Company's Annual Report
• Your Stock Allocation
• Why Split a Stock? (substitute feature article)

August 2006:

• Why Consider International Investing?
• Steps for Global Investing
• Reversion to the Mean
• What Are ADRs?
• FDIC Raises Retirement Account Limits (substitute feature article)

July 2006:

• Where Are All the Jobs Going?
• How Much Will Social Security Replace?
• A Look at the Trade Deficit
• What's Your Inflation Rate?
• The Cost of Raising a Child (substitute feature article)

June 2006:

• Back to Basics with Bonds
• What's Happening with Long-Term Interest Rates?
• Why Do Bond Prices Fluctuate?
• What Are Convertible Bonds?
• The Fed Funds Rate vs. the Discount Rate (substitute feature article)

May 2006:

• Checking Your Personal Financial Ratios
• Use a Budget to Control Spending
• Resolving Financial Issues before Marriage
• Financial Tips for Your Children
• Organizing Your Records for an Emergency (substitute feature article)

April 2006:

• Why Is Asset Allocation Important?
• Utilizing Losses in Your Portfolio
• Have You Assessed Your Risk Tolerance?
• Sticking with Your Strategy
• Holding vs. Selling an Investment (substitute feature article)

March 2006:

• Take Control of Your Debt
• Lowering Your Debt Costs
• The Invest vs. Pay Off Debt Decision
• College Students and Credit (substitute feature article)

February 2006:

• Dealing with Asset Basis
• Estate Planning for Your Retirement Accounts
• A Look at Generation-Skipping Taxes
• Distributing Assets to Adult Children
• Do You Really Need an Estate Plan? (substitute feature article)

January 2006:

• Is Saving 10% Enough?
• So What Will You Do in Retirement?
• Tame Your Spending
• What Are Roth 401(k)s?
• Keep an Eye on Inflation (substitute feature article)

December 2005:

• Make Your Resolutions Work
• Tips for This Housing Market
• How Useful Are Financial Rules of Thumb?
• The Basics of Credit Scores
• Financial Decisions for Your Children (substitute feature article)

November 2005:

• Are Federal Deficits a Concern?
• Why Is the Fed Raising Interest Rates?
• How Do We Measure Inflation?
• How Is Employment Measured?
• How Affordable Is Housing? (substitute feature article)

October 2005:

• Coming to Terms with Stocks
• A Look at P/E Ratios
• The Basics of Market Capitalization
• A Return to Dividends?
• How Should You Hold Your Securities? (substitute feature article)

September 2005:

• 10 Tax Strategies to Consider
• Selling Your Home
• The Basics of 1031 Property Exchanges
• Basic Facts about Taxes
• Caring for Aging Parents (substitute feature article)

August 2005:

• Bond Strategies for Various Financial Goals
• Are Muni Bonds Appropriate for You?
• Your Retirement Asset Allocation
• Assessing a Bond's Credit Risk
• The Basics of TIPS (substitute feature article)

July 2005:

• Boosting Your 401(k) Plan's Returns
• Consider a Conversion
• Are Defined-Benefit Pension Plans Extinct?
• Will Your 401(k) Be Enough?
• Consider Splitting Your IRA (substitute feature article)

June 2005:

• Make Rebalancing a Habit
• Taxes and Your Investments
• Your Investment Strategy
• Make Investing Automatic
• Keeping Our Emotions in Check (substitute feature article)

May 2005:

• Coming to Grips with Life Insurance
• How Much Do You Need?
• Reevaluate your Life insurance at Retirement
• What Are Health Savings Accounts?
• What Is a Life Settlement? (substitute feature article)

April 2005:

• Tips for Your College Education Fund
• Withdrawing College Funds
• Is a College Degree a Worthwhile Investment?
• Coping with the Financial Aid Process
• Budgeting and Your College Student (substitute feature article)

March 2005:

• Getting Organized for Your Heirs
• Tips to Consider for Your Estate Plan
• Thinking Through a QTIP Trust
• What Is an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust?
• Do You Really Need a Will? (substitute feature article)

February 2005:

• Deciding on a Withdrawal Rate
• Withdrawing Retirement Funds
• Review Your Social Security Statement
• Turning Your Home into an Income Stream
• Cutting Expenses after Retirement (substitute feature article)

January 2005:

• Your Path to Your Financial Goals
• Get Your Spending under Control
• Is an Interest-Only Mortgage Right for You?
• Diversifying All Your Assets
• Stretching Your Salary (substitute feature article)