What the experts say

Annuities ease income angst

Double-digit portfolio losses have sparked interest in an “old, reliable investment for retirement: immediate annuities,” said Tom Lauricella in The Wall Street Journal. Simply put, such annuities let investors exchange a chunk of money now for an immediate monthly stream of income guaranteed to last a lifetime. Retirees need not convert their entire savings. “One strategy is to get a big enough check to cover essential expenses.” But it does pay to make a frank assessment of how much money you’ll need, and how long you’ll need it. “You’re shifting the risk that you’ll outlive your money over to the insurance company,” says Scott Stolz of Raymond James Financial. Either way, it pays to shop around. A recent search by online annuity quote service Hueler Cos. found a $108-per-month difference between the highest and lowest payout offered on a $100,000 annuity.

Dispute property taxes

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Just because your home value has gone down doesn’t mean your property-tax bill will automatically follow suit, said Pat Mertz Esswein in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. “The National Taxpayers Union estimates that as much as 60 percent of taxable property in the U.S. is overassessed, largely because assessment cycles haven’t caught up with the decline in home values.” If your tax bill seems extreme, appeal it. There’s no need to hire an expert. “With the right preparation, you can probably do just as well yourself.” Most legitimate claims fall into one of two categories: an error in the information about your house or a big discrepancy between taxes on your home and similar houses in your area. “If the assessments on similar properties are a lot lower—10 percent or more—you have a good case based on uniformity.” Check out the National Taxpayers Union website, Ntu.org, for details on how to appeal.

Can ‘Benjamins’ prompt frugality?

Consumers who can’t resist the urge to splurge should fill their wallets with large bills, said Sean Gregory in Time. A new study suggests that carrying a $100 bill, which happens to feature the portrait of the famously frugal Benjamin Franklin, may actually make you spend less. The Journal of Consumer Research found that consumers who carry $100 bills are less likely to want to spend that money than are consumers carrying $100 worth of small bills. “There’s a psychological cost associated with spending a $100 bill that’s not there with spending smaller bills,” says Joydeep Srivastava, a University of Maryland professor and co-author of the study. The plan could backfire, however, when they do finally break the Benjamin and are left with many smaller bills. “Once that barrier is passed, it’s like a dam gets broken,” says Srivastava. Researchers call this the “what the hell” effect.