2014 is looking smooth right now for stock and bond investors. The year didn’t start off that way with a fairly steep decline in February, but like all the dips of 2013, it was ultimately another buying opportunity for those able to look past the noise.

What was once allowed is now prohibited – In 2008, an affluent New York City couple made a series of withdrawals and transfers among contributory IRAs, rollover IRAs and non-IRA investment accounts, all with the long-established 60-day deadline for tax-free IRA rollovers in mind.

What is it about Twitter that people think their businesses can flourish based upon it? As a long-time blogger with solid experience marketing myself online, I just don’t get the whole Twitter-for-business model.

A recent Investment News survey finds that the majority of money managers in the US don’t think Obama’s economic recovery plan will achieve its stated goal. Frankly, I’m yet to hear any one plan which I’m jumping for joy over.

The student loan industry is a giant scam if you ask me. Parents and students alike don’t realize the slanted arrangement they are about to take on when applying for these loans. Society places such a strong emphasis on education (for good reason) that the education industry and especially the lenders behind it stand to benefit tremendously.

Now that Hank Paulson is a lame duck, and we’ve seen the majority of his contributions as Treasury Secretary, we can begin to assess whether he has been handling the unfolding economic downturn effectively, or as some might suggest, made it worse.

Last week Nancy Pelosi announced that the completed version of the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is now available on the House of Representatives website. I spent a few hours reading through the bill and would like to highlight what I think are the most important parts.

I’ve been hesitant to offer my opinion about the proposed $700B bailout package since the news pertaining to that plan is ongoing and constantly changing. But now that rumors are flying and I’ve had clients call in to ‘blame this on Bush’ and to complain that it dumps a massive debt directly on the heads of taxpayers, I feel the need to spell out some truth as I understand it and perhaps some more realistic scenarios.

There was a spread in the Wall Street Journal at the end of 2007 in which a variety of seasoned financial experts were asked where the markets were headed in 2008. The predictions were mostly bullish – Dow 14,000 – Dow 15,000 – Dow 16,000 – true dreamers.

As we continue to question the softening economy, I’ve noticed lots of finger pointing in the media. Originally it was let’s blame Greenspan and the old Fed for keeping interest rates too low for too long.

At times like this, old-fashioned advice such as ‘buy, hold, and don’t pay attention’ works extremely well. I’ve had several clients call over the past few weeks concerned about the day-to-day volatility in the stock and bond markets.