Mecklenburg Times: News for Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties Real Estate, Development, Construction, and Community News in the Charlotte area and throughout Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties

Dear Mr. Berko: My wife and I have two questions. One concerns health savings accounts, and the other concerns Social Security. First, could you please explain the basics of an HSA and how someone qualifies? Next, my wife says our ...

Tagged with: HSA

Dear Mr. Berko: Why has Stein Mart done so badly in the past 10 years? What is wrong with the company? Does it really yield 11 percent? My stockbroker suggested I buy 5,000 shares “because it’s a good gamble”! — ...

Tagged with: retail

Dear Mr. Berko: I bought 200 shares of United Continental Holdings last year at $76, and I’ve been behind the eight ball since. My broker wants me to keep the stock. I’m disappointed with it and inclined to sell. What ...

Tagged with: airlines

Dear Mr. Berko: President Donald Trump will spend $639 billion on defense this fiscal year. In fact, he recently announced a $54 billion increase in defense spending, which is up $6 billion from 2016. The president announced that he’s committed ...

Tagged with: Donald Trump

Dear Mr. Berko: One of the men I admire is Claes Fornell, who developed the American Customer Satisfaction Index, or ASCI, and also manages an exchange-traded fund by that name. He purchases companies for his ETF that have the highest ...

Tagged with: Berko

Dear Mr. Berko: I’m looking to invest $50,000 in four high-income stocks, and I’m willing to speculate to get 10 percent annually. My stockbroker recommends AllianceBernstein, Waddell & Reed, Duff & Phelps Select Energy, Apollo Investment and BlackRock Capital Investment. ...

Tagged with: stocks

Dear Mr. Berko: I’m writing for our 18-member investment club, which has been active since 1994. In 2008, we discovered Yahoo Finance. It was great, and we used it to help us research stocks for our $677,000 portfolio. It was ...

Tagged with: Yahoo Finance

Dear Mr. Berko: Our 27-year-old son graduated from college with a degree in sociology. He is our only child, lives with three other guys and owes $112,000 on student loans. He has asked us to pay it off and said ...

Tagged with: loans

Dear Mr. Berko: I’m taking an economics course in college. We’re learning about inflation, and the professor wants each of us to write a paper on this subject. How do you explain inflation? I know that inflation means rising prices, ...

Tagged with: inflation

Dear Mr. Berko: My husband has been diagnosed with COPD, and I can’t imagine a more frightening medical disorder. He tells me that it feels as if there were an elephant sitting on his chest. His physician prescribed Advair, which ...

Tagged with: stocks