Is College Becoming Affordable? Not exactly, but there is some good news:  this year’s average tuition increase for public schools was just 2.9%, continuing a pattern of slowing growth (chart). Private school tuition increased 3.8%, according to the College Boards’ Trends in College Pricing 2013, also a slower rate of growth. It’s important to understand …Read More

Boston Home Prices Gain 10% in 2013 The Boston-area housing market had its best yearly gain since the heady days of 2004: up 9.92% in 2013, according the the Case-Shiller Housing Index for Boston. The index is accurate because it compares sales of the same home throughout the years. The chart shows a consistent annual …Read More

A Simple Way to Organize Your Tax Records If you don’t already have a method of organizing your tax records for the year, this might help: Make three folders labelled: During the year as tax documents arrive, just throw them into the right folder. (anything that goes on Schedule A or the front of the …Read More

Chocolates:  Half a Box or a Full Box? Or, why is it so hard to save money? I attended a financial planning conference recently that included an interview with Dan Ariely, a Duke professor who does research in the field of Behavioral Economics.  He talked about why it’s so hard to save money. He asked …Read More

Work Longer, Live Healthier? A recent article in a British journal says retirement can be harmful to one’s health, and continued work contributes to good health. Their findings: Retirement decreases the likelihood of being in “very good” or “excellent” health by 40% Retirement increases the probability of suffering from clinical depression by about 40% The article admits …Read More