Long Term Trends:  Employment What does a 25-year chart of unemployment tell us about the US economy? Sometimes we follow an economic statistic so closely that we lose sight of the bigger picture.  Below are charts of two statistics from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics over the last 25 years:  unemployment as a percentage …Read More

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