You probably know that representatives from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are meeting at this moment to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—and, in the words of President Trump, get “a better deal for America.”  But what IS NAFTA, and what are the chances that this time around the provisions will favor jobs and growth in America?

Probably the most forgotten minority in America is the “elder orphans”—aging retirees who no longer have a spouse (if they ever had one), no kids and no caregiver. 

You probably noticed the headlines: for the first time, U.S.-based scientists have genetically modified a human embryo.  This follows similar news from China, which, like the U.S., has touted the ability to correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases like cystic fibrosis, or to resolve the predilection to cancer or heart disease.

You’ve read that robots, automation and artificial intelligence are likely to displace millions of workers in the coming ten to 20 years.  So if you or someone you care about wants to stay ahead of that curve, what skills would you need to make you an ideal worker in that automated future?

Should today’s 70-year-old American be considered “old?”  How do you define that term these days?  Statistically, your average 70-year-old has just a 2% chance of dying within a year.  The estimated upper limits of average life expectancy is now 97, and a rapidly growing number of 70-year-olds will live past age 100. 

If you’re like most people, you carefully put off doing something fun—like taking a trip or treating yourself—until you finished your work.  Of course, for most people, the work never ends, and the fun gets put off over and over and over again.

A recent Wall Street Journal article, citing a study by the Center for Research in Security Prices, tells us something remarkable about the times we are investing in: the number of stocks on the U.S. market has quietly diminished by more than half over the last 20 years.  In November 1997, investors could choose from 7,355 U.S. stocks.  Today, there are fewer than 3,600.

You receive portfolio performance reports every three months—a form of transparency that financial planning professionals introduced at a time when the typical brokerage statement was impossible to decipher.  But it might surprise you to know that most professionals think there is actually little value to any quarterly performance information, other than to reassure you that you actu

You’ve probably read about the troubled finances of Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory in the Caribbean that has issued more than $70 billion in municipal bonds, with no visible way to pay out the interest, much less the principal.  Now Puerto Ricans have overwhelmingly voted that they want their island territory to become the 51st U.S. state.

By now, you’ve probably read about surprising new scientific research that has shown that physical exercise is not—despite what we’ve heard for generations—a very effective weight loss technique.  So is there any good reason to hit the gym, or might you as well hang out on the couch?