It looks like Congress won’t get around to fixing the estate tax before this year ends. Aside from boosting the incomes of estate planning attorneys, this doesn’t help anyone. Read the full article

A report released this month on indicates that while average college debt levels reached $23,200 for the graduating class of 2008, there is an extremely wide range of variation among student debts loads in different parts of the country and at different school. It’s not very enlightening to speak of an “average” college debt when average debt levels at specific institutions vary from $5,000 to $106,000. Read the full article

This past summer I wrote about the novel Macroshares trusts released this year that enable investors to speculate on the direction of housing prices. Earlier this week, MacroMarkets announced that instead of terminating in 2014, the trusts will terminate next week. Read the full article

Last Friday, the House passed the the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a measure hailed as the biggest reform of financial services in half a century. Already, though, some interesting exceptions have been spotted in the bill, which weighs in at 1200-plus pages. The bill does a number of laudable things, including the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to oversee financial products and services. Read the full article

For many people, December is the riskiest month in which to buy into a new mutual fund in a taxable account. This has nothing to do with the gyrations of the stock market, and everything to do with taxes. Read the full article

As the end of the year approaches, it’s always a good idea to take see if there are any last-minute moves that make sense for you. Here are four opportunities for tax savings: Read the full article

As the Christmas shopping season approaches, it’s a good idea to do what you can to reduce your risk of identity fraud when you shop online. Read the full article

The big guns in the securities industry have expressed a desire for a “harmonized fiduciary standard” for broker-dealers and investment advisers. That sounds good, but as the details emerge, it looks more and more as though this "harmonized" standard is actually a "gutted" standard, tailored for the benefit of large financial companies. Read the full article

I’ve learned from Newstex, which syndicates this blog through its Authoritative Blog Content service, that the FFS Blog's content can now be accessed using an Amazon Kindle. Read the full article

Construction-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar recently announced its willingness to settle a lawsuit in which it was accused of charging excessive fees in four of its employee 401(k) plans. Read the full article

Yesterday the New England Economic Partnership (NEEP) held its Fall Economic Conference at the Boston Federal Reserve. Regional economists reported that they expect unemployment in New England to peak next year, despite improvements in the national economic outlook. Read the full article

A recent scholarly paper reveals an interesting conclusion: quite a few hedge fund managers misrepresent the truth about past legal and regulatory problems, performance, or assets under management. Read the full article

Congress just couldn’t resist the urge to give more money away. Read the full article

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left its Federal Funds rate unchanged in a range of zero to 0.25% today; it also gave a few hints as to what would need to happen before it starts raising interest rates. Read the full article

Today I found a nice article at Smartmoney.com that summarizes several indicators that can help you make an educated guess as to whether housing prices in an area are likely to go up. Read the full article

Economists at the University of Massachusetts believe the state’s economy may have bottomed, but the indicators remain ambiguous. Read the full article

Under the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for 2009 from IRAs were waived. People who inadvertently received a distribution were confused about their options, but the IRS has issued clarifying guidance. Read the full article

As the November 30th deadline for the $8,000 first-time homebuyers credit approaches, members of both the House and the Senate are floating ideas for ways to extend the credit. Read the full article

Today the House Financial Services Committee approved a bill establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). Read the full article

Despite a decline in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), major retirement plan limits remain unchanged. Read the full article

Yesterday’s second hour of the radio program “On Point” featured the author of “Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That, and Go There.” Read the full article

At this time of year it’s a good idea to look for last-minute opportunities to minimize your taxes. Most opportunities require some action before the end of the calendar year; here are several ideas to consider. Read the full article

Bizjournals.com recently released its analysis of per capita income growth in the 100 largest US metro areas. Except for Bridgeport-Stamford, CT, Boston was the only metro area in New England ranked among the top 10 . Read the full article

Last week, the NPR show This American Life marked the anniversary of the housing-credit crisis by updating its entertaining report on the events that led to the collapse of the credit markets last year. Read the full article

Don Dion, writing in TheStreet.com, has included UMM and DMM on his list of the "10 Most Dangerous ETFs." Technically, they're not ETFs, but that's a minor quibble. Going beyond the criticisms I offered of MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up (UMM) and Major Metro Housing Down (DMM), Dion comments: Read the full article

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