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Five ways to preserve family wealth Have you ever seen a mansion wasting away? Or a family business close after several generations? For as long as records have been kept, it seems, 9 in 10 families fail to hold onto their assets 鈥� and their family unity 鈥� for more than three generations. It doesn't have to be that way. There is a formula for sustaining wealth from one generation to the next, and it has little to do with investment strategies or legal structures and everything to do with building family relationships. In our work with The Heritage Institute, which helps successful families pass on their wealth and unity, we have broken down this formula into five essential elements. Whether you're trying to preserve a $50 million estate or a $50,000 inheritance, these five elements can help you build family lasting unity around shared goals:
Unemployment rate drops to 8.3 percent. Is that a problem for Mitt Romney?It could become harder for Republicans such as Mitt Romney to blame President Obama for a lack of jobs. In January, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since February 2009.
Unemployment rate drops to 8.3 percentToday's employment situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows total unemployment in January declined to 8.3 percent.聽
Pension investing and developing countriesInstitutional investors will turn to the developing world seeking higher returns but what are the risks of seeking those returns?
Tech stocks bask in Facebook's glowTech stocks related to social media, like Groupon and Zynga, see shares rise after Facebook IPO. But boost for these tech stocks could be temporary. 聽
Facebook IPO: CEO is ruler. Can shareholders win?Facebook IPO makes clear that CEO Zuckerberg dominates the company with more than half the board votes. But studies suggest that might benefit shareholders long after the Facebook IPO.聽
Ron Paul's Fed chairmanFor both Paul and Gingrich, Jim Grant would be an important player in federal finances.
Mortgage rates: new record lows. Again.Mortgage rates drop to 3.87 percent for a fixed 30-year loan; 15-year fixed mortgage rates fall to 3.14 percent. That's the lowest in more than a half century of data.
Can Facebook IPO help solve a state budget crisis?The Facebook IPO could bring California as much as $500 million in tax revenues from capital gains. Depending on whom you talk to, that's a significant help or a drop in the bucket.聽
Why expiring tax cuts should actually expireThe charade of annual or biennial debate about perpetually 鈥渆xpiring鈥� tax provisions is terrible tax policy and a symbol of our failure to come to terms with budget reality.
Facebook IPO is good news for Zynga, Pandora, Groupon, tooThe impending Facebook IPO has given a leg-up to social gaming powerhouse Zynga.聽
'Right to work' push has unions stewing and a fight brewingA 'right to work' push in Minnesota leads to boycotts by Democratic lawmakers and protests in multiple states.
Obama opens door to offshore wind power along mid-Atlantic coastInterior Secretary Ken Salazar announced plans Thursday to open聽four new wind-leasing regions for wind farms along the mid-Atlantic coast. States look forward to a positive economic impact.
What Mitt Romney's 'poor' gaffe really meansWhat Romney seems to have meant is that he believes the least-well-off are amply provided for by the safety net. Too bad he wants to shred it.
Obama is no 'food stamp president'Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich agree that President Obama is turning America into 鈥淓uropean-style welfare culture,鈥� pointing to a rise in the number of citizens relying on federal aid. Here's why they have it backwards.
Romney actually wants to help 'poor people,' and the right isn't happyConservative pundits are ripping Mitt Romney over his stated willingness to fix the safety net for poor people who are 'falling through the cracks.' Why didn't he renounce dependency on government? they ask.
Jobless claims drop by 12,000聽鈥淚nitial鈥� unemployment declined 12,000 to 367,000 claims from last week鈥檚 revised 379,000 claims, while聽 鈥渃ontinued鈥� claims declined by 130,000.
Don't read the manual? It'll cost you.The owners' manual is full of tiny useful facts that, taken together, will save you time and money.
Is Ron Paul's gold standard idea dangerous?Ron Paul wants to end the Fed and go back to the gold standard. Many call that a dangerous idea, but the US was quite prosperous on the gold standard.
Facebook IPO: Could it backfire if users revolt?The Facebook IPO will make some people very rich, but social-media experts suggest that it could force Facebook to put profits over user experience 鈥� and that could cause problems.
