We’re back! After a six-week hiatus, The Personal Finance Hour returns Monday afternoon with an easy-going episode in which Jim and I discuss what we’ve been doing since you last heard from us. (Short answer: Jim’s been trekking across Europe; I’ve been walking and biking all over Portland.) We would love to have you call [...]

“Give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man.” — attributed to Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order Though there are many fine books about money available for the general reader, I’ve always been disappointed that there are so few movies about money. Anything directly about finance tends [...]

At 10am yesterday morning, Kris and I climbed into the Mini Cooper and to head for the county fair. We’d only been driving for a few minutes when Kris pointed at a sign. “Look! An estate sale,” she said. “Let’s stop.” Kris and I like estate sales better than garage sales because they usually feature [...]

The U.S. stock markets have provided a wild ride over the past year. The S&P 500 stock market index recently posted its best five-month gain since 1938. Yet many people missed out on this. And no wonder. During the previous five months, the market suffered one of its greatest five month losses, which understandably made [...]