Millions of Americans saw a boost in their paychecks at the start of the year as a result of President Obama signing legislation to temporarily reduce the Social Security payroll tax by two percentage points in 2011 and 2012 on annual wages of up to $106,500.

That means an individual with an annual salary of $50,000 would receive an extra $1,000 in take-home pay this year and next.



A new website, Help the 99ers, aims to connect 99ers — those who've exhausted all available unemployment benefits — with people who would like to help them.

The site has a "Help Board" organized by state, where 99ers can post their stories, including their job histories, their immediate needs and a contact email address.

Those who want to help can browse the stories, provide job contacts if applicable or offer short-term monetary support for "those struggling to pay the rent, stay warm or put food on the table."

There's also a Jobs forum available, where job seekers, employers and entrepreneurs with ideas can connect as well as a collection of links that 99ers will find very useful.

CD rates from Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large banks and thrifts conducted Jan. 26, 2011.

After a couple of weeks of scant upward momentum, CD rates inched down.

The average one-year CD yield remains at 0.48 percent for the sixth week in a row, but the five-year CD yield fell 1 basis point to 1.59 percent.

California has two of the largest pension funds:  CALPERS and CALSTRS-these two funds provide benefits to thousands of California retiree's. 

California Governor Jerry Brown said he will propose changes to the most-populous U.S. state’s underfunded public-employee retirement plans.

The California Public Employees Retirement System, which covers state and local government workers, has no more than 70 percent of the assets it needs to pay for benefits over several decades, according to fund staff. The California State Teachers Retirement System as of June 30 could pay 78 percent of promised benefits, with an unfunded liability of $40.5 billion.

Finra BrokerCheck allows you to look at your financial advisors background.

Through BrokerCheck, investors can:

• Search for both brokers and brokerage firms
• Obtain online delivery of a background report
• View explanatory information to help them better understand the content, context and source of the information provided
• See links to additional resources and tools

www.finra.org

Oh sure, join a health club, lose weight, start a budget-all tough to do...Here are two easy resolutions for your retirement!

Save 1 percent more. In 2011, consider dialing up your 401(k) contributions by 1 or 2 percent. A majority of 401(k) participants (87 percent) say they could afford to increase their annual contribution by 1 percent, according to a recent ING Retirement Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald and Associates online survey. And more than half (59 percent) of the retirement savers surveyed report that they could afford to save 3 percent more.

Contribute to a Roth account.  Last year everyone focused on Roth conversions.   In 2011 just focus on contributing to a Roth IRA or Roth 401k if your employer offers this 401k option.  Your Roth account will be tax free when you withdraw.

Thanks Kiplingers.

Gold (+29.6%) was the star of the year, clocking its tenth consecutive annual gain. Equities, commodities and corporate bonds also gave investors reason to smile.

Tax-free IRA distributions to charities for taxpayers age 701⁄2 or older are retroactively extended through 2011.

This is an incredible tax break for those who qualify. If the distributions are made directly to qualified charitable organizations and do not exceed $100,000 per year, the amounts are not included in the taxable income of the IRA owner. Since the charitable distributions are not included in adjusted gross income, the taxpayer does not suffer phase-outs of deductions or the inclusion of larger amounts of Social Security due to the distribution amount. Even better is the fact that amounts distributed from the IRA directly to charities qualify in meeting the required minimum distribution rules. There is still time for taxpayers to send contributions directly from their IRAs to their favorite charities before 2010 ends in less than a week.

Since the charitable distributions are not included in adjusted gross income, the taxpayer does not suffer phase-outs of deductions or the inclusion of larger amounts of Social Security due to the distribution amount. Even better is the fact that amounts distributed from the IRA directly to charities qualify in meeting the required minimum distribution rules. There is still time for taxpayers to send contributions directly from their IRAs to their favorite charities before 2010 ends in less than a week.

Many of us depend on our spouse, our parents, friends or advisors to monitor our investments.  Sure..they may be very capable but ultimatlely thing change.  We'll need to understand our own IRA accounts, 401k plans, savings and critical estate issues.  Humberto Cruz has provided sound investment advice for years.  Here's his latest:

As I retire from The Savings Game, I leave you with these four key words: It is our job.

Over the course of 1,028 weekly columns, dating back to April 1991, I have emphasized basic principles for financial success. They all entail personal responsibility:

• Spend less than you make

• Save and invest the difference wisely for the goals most important to you.

• Identify those goals clearly. Calculate how much you have to save and the investment returns you need so you don’t take more risks than necessary.

• Never forget that money is only a tool. True happiness comes from commitment and relationships, not material wealth.

All this is very simple but not necessarily easy to accomplish.

Human nature conspires against us, tempting us to blow our money on useless "stuff" or on fleeting pleasures with no lasting value. Or we succumb to the siren song of promised fat and fast profits and gamble our money in high-risk, complex and questionable, if not fraudulent, investments.

Without financial discipline and common sense, we can be our own worst enemies. Worse than any "fat bankers" on Wall Street, "evil" credit card companies or unscrupulous "advisers" pitching unsuitable high-commission products.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline this week continued to march steadily to $3 a gallon. In some parts of the country, it's above that already.

On Friday the average price of a gallon of regular across the U.S. was almost $2.98, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's up 2 cents from Monday and 10 cents more than a week ago. Drivers on the West Coast pay an average $3.21 a gallon. Gas is about $3.09 a gallon in New England, $3.05 in the Mid-Atlantic states, $2.98 around the Great Lakes and $2.82 in the Southwest.

The rising price of oil has pushed up gasoline prices. Crude has climbed about 5 percent in the past 10 days, and on Tuesday it topped $90 for the first time in over two years. On Friday, benchmark oil lost 58 cents to settle at $87.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.



Regulators on Friday shut down small banks in Michigan and Pennsylvania, boosting the number of U.S. banks that have failed this year to 151 as bad loans have mounted and the economy has been slow to heal.