Florida's public employee pension and hurricane catastrophe funds are benefiting from an upswing in the financial markets. ...more

September 2, 2009

Losing your job is emotionally and financially draining. Figuring out how to keep your head above water until you find a new one is overwhelming. ...more

April 18, 2009

At his first official meeting as Tarpon Springs city manager, Tuesday night, Mark LeCouris agreed this is most likely one of the toughest times to assume the post as a city's top administrative official. In these, the direst economic times in memory, the city faces a $2 million revenue shortfall in its next fiscal year, LeCouris noted. It may, however, also be the best of times because an economic crisis gives a good manager a chance to really prove his worth, Commissioner Chris Alahouzos declared. ...more

February 28, 2009

Throughout history, people have been oppressed to the point of desperation. Once the pain of enduring any longer becomes severe enough, a backlash begins to brew. ...more

February 12, 2009

that money you've been expecting will grow - shrink to disturbing levels. ...more

October 25, 2008

Sue Martin does her best to be a dutiful and loving daughter. So when her 84-year-old mother finally retired from a family electronics business - at age 82 - Martin bought the small three-bedroom ranch house next door to her own home in Claymont, Del., and moved her mother in. ...more

October 19, 2008

These are tough times; about to get tougher. I drove out of town the other day with my old friend and former Tribune history writer Leland Hawes. We were going to a memorial service for Steve Raymond. We had both known him as an editor and friend at the Trib. Raymond was one of the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March at the beginning of World War II, and we were going to his memorial service at the Florida National Cemetery near Bushnell. ...more

September 26, 2008

One man has spent years deciding the values of other people's property. The other still feels the sting of being denied an agricultural exemption. ...more

August 8, 2008

I have missed a number of commission sessions, but I do read the papers and watch television for news of local and state issues. One of them is the issue of state officials using pension funds for questionable investments. A short time before Enron went under, along with $7 trillion of the national market, the state administration bought $300 million of Enron stock with pension funds of the teachers retirement fund and $300 million from the firemen and police funds. They became worthless. Nothing happened; it was just a blip on the assets and liability charts. Just recently, it came to light that administration had also bought risky stock with other portfolio funds that affected local governments. When a rush to withdraw half of those portfolio funds occurred, the state closed those funds to preclude further erosion of that portfolio. As I understand it, Mr. Stepanovich, a significant member of that committee, has resigned. The question remains: Who will be held accountable for making those risky investments? ...more

December 22, 2007

It's time for employers to spin off their 401(k) plans. ...more

November 6, 2007