Yesterday my daughter and three of her friends were visiting our home. All four had graduated college last June and all are fortunate to have jobs.
These young adults were all concerned about the economy, and asked me what I thought they should be doing by way of saving or investing. They had all heard the usual advice. But, they were smart
Americans have a love-hate relationship with credit cards. On the one hand, it is hard to argue with the amazing convenience of this little piece of plastic. In fact today there are almost a billion active credit cards in the United States -- more than 2 cards for every man, woman and child in the country.
The problem is that at times credit
Posted February 2nd, 2009 by admin in category
In The News
Last Friday's (January 30) New York Times front page included an article about legal fees: "Billable Hours Giving Ground at Law Firms." This article raised the question whether clients were being treated fairly when the measure of a legal fee is the attorney's time expended. An obvious concern is whether an attorney compensated solely on the
Posted January 20th, 2009 by admin in category
Real Estate
In the real estate transactions world, we are operating in new territory. Buyers are nervous ("are we overpaying?"). Lenders are skittish ("are we overfinancing?"). Appraisers are ultra-conservative. And so on.
It is for this reason that I have been suggesting to my clients for more than a year that the period between contract and closing --
Posted January 12th, 2009 by admin in category
Real Estate
It seems like just a year ago I was speaking with a buddy of mine who specialized in investment sales of large real estate properties. As I was performing due diligence on some of these properties for an acquisition group I represented, I was very familiar with the numbers. When I heard the seller's asking price, and subsequently was stunned by