Joyce Smith: Restaurant & retail news.
Steve Rosen: Teaching your children the value of a dollar.
Mark Davis: Money and how it makes people behave.
Smart spending and saving solutions from columnist Humberto Cruz and others.
The Scout Mid Cap Fund has received a five-star rating from the Morningstar mutual fund rating company.
The five-star is Morningstar's highest rating.
The fund, managed by Patrick Dunkerley, is up 30.79 percent through October this year. The fund is up 28.22 over the past 12 months, and 1.84 percent over three years.
Scout Mid Cap invests in mid-cap growth stocks.
As layoffs mount, Dollars & Sense is pulling together some resources to help you through these rough times.
Dollars & Sense is offering a free forum for job seekers through a partnership with the Kansas City Metro Networking Job Club. Check out job openings, tout your talents and post your resumes. Just register on the networking site and check out the resources.
Phillip Brown
The job: Civil engineer.
The employer: The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities in Kansas City, Kan., is a public utility supplying water and electricity to customers in Wyandotte and Johnson counties.
BRB asks
Who do I talk to for financial advice that does not involve them trying to sell me something? We are 60 and 59, have a 200,000 annuity, are 60-70,000 credit card debt, have a house that is half paid for,own a condo in fl that is not paying for itself, have a good credit rating, not behind on anything, not facing foreclosure, wife on disability, husband still working, Want to pay off credit cards, but don't know how. Should we use part of annuity? I just want to know who to ask for help. Thanks
It looks like you would be well served by a comprehensive financial plan which would address your concerns and give you a clear picture of where you are at financially. Financial advisors are paid in two different ways. Some receive commissions for the products they sell you. There are also fee only financial planners who work for you for a set fee and sell no products. In their case you know exactly how much it will cost you up front. It would also be preferable to use a financial planner who is a Certified Financial Planner.
Best Regards,
G. Douglas Dunham
The fees you pay them are insane. They use this income to buy politicians that make laws favoring the bankers.