Financial planning

Kelli S. Lewis, a principal in the tax and business services department at CPA firm Stone Carlie & Company, has been certified as an Accredited Estate Planner by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils.

The Obama administration said that nearly 2,000 employers and unions have been accepted in the first round of the $5 billion Early Retiree Reinsurance Program created under the health care reform bill.

The Financial Planning Coalition has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to extend the fiduciary standard of care to broker-dealers and other financial professionals who provide personalized investment advice to retail customers.

People filing for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 consumer bankruptcy protection are facing as much as a 55 percent cost increase as one result of the 2005 comprehensive bankruptcy reforms, according to a new study.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted changes to the federal proxy access and other rules to facilitate the rights of shareholders to nominate directors to a company's board.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has recommended enhancements to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rules in target date funds, including better disclosure in the funds’ advertising and marketing materials.

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.

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.

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.