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older woman looking out the window

Half of older households fall below 200 percent of poverty. Recently, I was appointed to the Governor’s Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts.  The Council has a broad mandate, but I’m an economist so I care about whether older people in Massachusetts have enough money.  Apparently they do not: Massachusetts ranks among the worst in…

needle in haystack

Investors will probably see good news in Morningstar Inc.’s annual report showing that the fees charged by actively managed mutual funds continue to come down. The truth is that focusing on fees alone misses the point. What matters is a fund’s after-fee return. There are always fund managers who excel at picking stocks and can…