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• Couch Potato Investing
• Medicare & Generational Storm
• Q&A (from print)

• Making Bets on a Falling Dollar Isn't Easy

  Q: What do you think of foreign bond funds as an investment? What is the thinking behind them -- i.e., are they considered a hedge against a falling dollar? -- L.E., Houston A: The broad idea is that it's a big world out there, with lots of borrowers... Posted Feb 28 2007, 06:00 PM by scottb with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: I Bonds & Tips, Q&A (from print), Retirement

• I Savings Bonds are complex but rewarding

  Q. In recent years, you have advised your readers that government I Savings Bonds offer a safe and rewarding investment. I bought my first ones in 2000 and have been, until recently, quite pleased with the returns. Currently, the inflation component has... Posted Dec 20 2006, 06:00 PM by scottb with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: I Bonds & Tips, Q&A (from print), Retirement

• Making Good Use of an Expensive Universal Life Policy

  Q. We bought a universal life policy about 18 years ago in the amount of $155,000. Now the policy is being eaten up by charges as I get older. The cash value is now about the same as when we began, about $39,000. The cash value will be wiped out in about... Posted Mar 23 2006, 12:21 PM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: I Bonds & Tips, Medicare & Generational Storm, Q&A (from print), Retirement

• Tax-free bond Income May Not Escape Taxes

  Q. I'm at a loss to understand how municipal bonds work. In January 2003 I was advised to invest in a municipal bond fund that specialized in short term bonds. Now, almost three years later, I've barely seen any gains in my quarterly reports. Sometimes... Posted Jan 26 2006, 02:29 PM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: I Bonds & Tips, Q&A (from print), Retirement

• TIPS Have an Advantage in Periods of Inflation

  Q. I've had the "Couch Potato" portfolio for my 403b account for close to five years with 60% Vanguard Total stock market Index fund and 40% Total Bond Market Index. I didn't know until recently that you now suggest Inflation Protected Securities in place... Posted Jul 14 2005, 11:42 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Couch Potato Investing, I Bonds & Tips, Q&A (from print), Retirement

• The Lazy Money Problem

  We've got a problem. Our money has gone lazy on us. The whole idea of saving money, we've been told, is that someday it will work when you don't. And now, as 77 million baby boomers are thinking seriously about their (possibly involuntary) retirement... Posted Dec 05 2004, 03:29 PM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: I Bonds & Tips, Retirement

• How To Protect Pension Income from Inflation

  Workers with pensions--- a slowly vanishing breed--- have a unique problem. They literally live on a "fixed income." Their monthly pension benefit is based on how many years they worked, their final average salary, their age, the age of their spouse,... Posted Oct 21 2003, 01:37 PM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: I Bonds & Tips, Retirement