Is Your Money Keeping Up With Inflation? Price inflation is another major concern for everyone. The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) number released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics states that prices, in all U.S. cities, are up 0.1% in the month of December for the calendar year of 2002. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a program that produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services. Furthermore, the national unemployment rate continues to remain steady at 6.0% for the month of December 2002. Believe it or not, this may not be as bad as it sounds. [More] Investors: Avoid These 5 Common Tax Mistakes Recently, more mutual funds have been focusing on effective tax-management. These funds try to not only buy shares in good companies, but also minimize the tax burden on shareholders by holding those shares for extended periods of time. By investing in funds geared towards “tax-managed” returns, you can increase your net gains and save yourself some tax-related headaches. To be worthwhile, though, a tax-efficient fund must have both ingredients: good investment performance and low taxable distributions to shareholders. [More] How to Evaluate Load vs. No Load Mutual Funds The key is the advice you're getting. And the fact is that many brokerage houses and Registered Representatives tend to be more interested in their profits than yours. Their investment advice is generally centered around Buy and Hold or dollar cost averaging and similar financially questionable recommendations. Hardly ever will you receive advice about when and why you should exit the market, either because of accumulated profits or to limit your losses. Getting out of the market is simply not in their best interest, though it may be in yours. [More] Using The Power Of Equity To Buy More Real Estate! Using The Power Of Equity To Buy More Real Estate!