Economic releases indicated that the U.S. and global economies were neither accelerating nor falling. U.S. and Asian equity markets rose, but some European equity markets were lower on the week.…

How much money do you need to retire on? What's the magic number that would make you feel secure?

Some say you need 85 percent of your preretirement income, including Social Security…

I’ve been shopping for Thanksgivukkah. The last time Chanukkah took place this early in the Gregorian calendar was in 1861, two years before Lincoln created…

A friend of mine recently observed that it seemed to be “disaster week in Maine” earlier this month.  The National Guard, a large Urban Search and Rescue group and numerous other…

Economic releases were softer this week in contrast to the stronger releases the week before. Nonetheless, the equity reacted positively to the testimony of Janet Yellen in her nomination hearings…

An anonymous computer programmer. An online trading card exchange. A secure black market website. An asset capable of over 160 percent …

"How do you come up with your ideas? Where do you find the time, the materials, the wherewithal, the courage, the utter unrealistic stupidity to do all this stuff Maggi?" I get that question (or…

I grew up in St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Camden.  When I say grew up, I mean that it was a huge part of my youth.  I was in the choir and an acolyte for many years, serving Fr. Nargesian.  When…

This maturing business isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Now, I’m not talking about the aches and pains and graying hair, I’m talking about the karma.  You know.  How you feel about maturing.  We…

Economic releases, particularly the U.S. Employment Report, were on the stronger side this past week. The equity markets experienced a mixed reaction since the stronger economic data increased the…

Tax rules say you can't claim the same expense twice on a tax return—but don't neglect to take all the credit you can.

Even if you use a company flex plan to pay for child care costs, you…

Economic releases in the past two weeks have been like night and day. The most recent week revealed the daylight of stronger data, while the previous week revealed the night of softer data. Yet,…

 Some people still pay cash for everything, but more people carry plastic cards instead of a wallet full of money. There are credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards, all with their own pluses…

PORT CLYDE — Gary Libby's main thing is ground fishing. Mostly for dabs, a flatfish similar to flounder, and also for scallops, but like most fishermen, he…

"To be interested in the popular culture of contemporary America is to be interested in our popular architecture; the architecture of those buildings in which we live or work or enjoy ourselves.…

The only downside to a Roth IRA is that contributions come from money that's been taxed; there's no deduction. But after that, everything is positive. A Roth offers tax-free income in the future,…

Years ago I had a summertime short-order breakfast job delighting tourists with drippy paper plates bending under either thick made-from-scratch pancakes or homemade bread French toast. Again and…

I have the good fortune to live on the lovely, bucolic Pearl Street in Camden. However, come Oct. 31, the street literally turns into the site of the zombie apocalypse as hundreds, if not…

This week, Congress approved a Continuing Resolution agreement to fund the government and raise the debt limits, but many of the government's economic releases were delayed into next week. The…

For some strange reason, probably a computer error, AARP magazine started appearing at our house a few years ago.  Being a procrastinator in areas like this, I’ve never gotten around to cancelling…

ROCKLAND — I had my last sail with Emma a couple of weeks ago. There was breeze enough for a rookie, just what I needed to get more familiar with the…

For the second week in a row, many of the economic releases from the U.S. government have been AWOL due to the shutdown. Capital market participants took their cue from the rhetoric in Washington…

In Midcoast Maine, so many of us are blessed with jobs, food and a warm place to sleep at night. We often take these things for granted. When Pinny Beebe Center of Penquis CAP spoke to West Bay…

The Department of Labor is looking at company health plans and how they comply with the Affordable Care Act (popularly known as Obamacare). Its health plan audit letter has been expanded to cover…

It is dark now when the throaty diesels rumble back to life on their moorings and the slow progression of lobster boats begins rounding the outer edge of the harbor for the fall…

Several weeks ago, I started tutoring a man to help get him ready to take his GED.  He married an American woman and moved here from the South Pacific.  He is very eager to learn and works hard on…

This story is fictional but is pieced together from the many experiences of homeless children in Knox County.

My summer vacation was pretty different this year than in summers past…

Starting next year, individuals who are not covered by health insurance will owe a penalty—capped at $95 a person for 2014, but due to rise later. If the penalty is not paid, the Internal Revenue…

The most anticipated data point of the week, the U.S. September Employment report, was not released due to the U.S. government shutdown. The Purchasing Managers' Indices across the globe supported…

Some folks are delighted when they get a big tax refund. They forget that it’s really their own money that they have lent to the government, interest-free, over the year.

If you’ve been…

ROCKPORT — There are many reasons a person can become homeless. Poverty, stagnant or falling incomes, less secure jobs that offer fewer benefits, declining public assistance, excessive wait lists…

Well, it is just the first week of the great federal shutdown.  Too bad that Congress is not part of the shutdown since its members are about as useless as they get. But, wait, I have an even…

Puck, the tabby cat, lies in the sun. Stretching his wide paw out as if to grab at the ray of sunshine in the dusty air. He smiles and stretches his legs. His heavy belly — filled out by fur,…

ROCKLAND — A few weeks ago, I was asked to help my friend, Gus, bring his O'Day Tempest to Rockland, from its temporary mooring in Bayside.

Gus has had a 30-foot sailboat for some years, and…

One thing we knew – or thought we knew — about alternative energy is that it is more expensive than energy derived from conventional sources like coal, nuclear and hydro. Some…

Dear Savvy Senior,

At age 62, I will be retiring at the end of the year and plan to enroll in Obamacare until my Medicare…

I hesitated to post this because I don't want to bring more attention to PETA, but after getting my thoughts together, I decided to put it out there.

We now have the somewhat famous…

“At every moment of every day, morning or midnight regardless of the season, there are birds aloft in the skies of the Western Hemisphere, migrating.”  — Scott Weidensaul

Each…

After age 70 1/2, you must withdraw a certain portion of your traditional IRA each year. Uncle Sam doesn't care WHICH IRA the funds come from. But your tax obligation is based on the total of ALL…

Autumn in Maine is, in my opinion, the best season of the year. The temperature is still warm but not sweltering, and the foliage is spectacular. A harsh, New England winter still feels at arm's…

Let me start by stating very clearly that I am an omnivore. When it comes to food, I'll try just about anything. Or anyone, if you're one of those folks who thinks all living creatures are endowed…

I've always tried hard not to be a helicopter parent, and many times I've failed miserably. Viewing parenthood essentially as a very poorly paid bodyguard gig protecting an illiterate, moody, and…

The economic releases, particularly in the U.S., were softer this week. Nonetheless the capital markets reacted to the easing of geopolitical risks surrounding Syria. Equity markets rose on the…

OAKLAND - Beautiful things were happening in the woods of Oakland, Maine last weekend. Twenty-four Rotary exchange students representing sixteen countries had gathered at a summer camp for a…

ROCKLAND — I wrote my first freelance story the summer I turned 30. I was living near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass., and spending a lot of time enjoying the performers on the street.

…

I want a dog. Not our dog, not his dog—my dog. My dog died Mother's Day weekend. A 15-year-old English setter. Soft coat, expressive eyes, you know the ones, sad, droopy, pink rimmed, but they…

September is a time of sweet beginnings, of dimpled, small children posing on dewy lawns for the mothers and fathers who want to capture their first day of school. These precious moments are…

Rockland didn't always look like this.

Purists and old timers are inclined to bemoan gentrification and, to be sure, there are towns in Maine (like Cape Elizabeth) and neighborhoods within…

The Purchasing Managers' releases for August rose and were better than expected, but the U.S. employment report was disappointing. The net affect of the mixed releases was expectations for a…

I’ve been thinking for a while that I should write about intolerance.  It seems that some people are not very tolerant of ideas and beliefs that are not in alignment with theirs.  Locally, it…