Best Business Commentary

Falling in love with a 401(k)

“On the surface, a 401(k) looks boring,” says Erin Burt in Kiplinger.com. It’s named after a section of the tax code, after all. But “beneath that nerdy exterior is one desirable catch.” A 401(k) can “make you a millionaire” by combining tax savings with early, steady, and automatic investment compounded relatively painlessly over an entire career. And, in case you’re not already smitten, most employers also match part of what you stash away. “What’s not to

Deals gone wild

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“Bold visionaries” are good at creating businesses, but not always at combining them, says Steve Rosenbush in BusinessWeek.com. If a proposed merger is called “game-changing” or “transformational,” you might want to avoid it: “Disaster often ensues.” Successful mergers occur when the buying firm is guided by boring business fundamentals. Most bad mergers stem from “volatility or emotion”—mostly fear, but also “arrogance, envy, and untamed ambition.” And in the “biggest M&A blunders,” managers “convince themselves that times have changed and that basic business rules no longer apply.”

The downward dollar

Think the “drooping dollar” looks weak now? says Andrew Schneider in Kiplinger.com. Several “fundamental global changes” are going to further erode “the greenback’s historical role as the standard-bearer for most of the world.” With the euro coming into its own, “the dollar is no longer the only game in town.” And the relatively sluggish U.S. economy and the promise of greater returns elsewhere will draw foreign government away from dollar-denominated assets. There are upsides—“more exports, for one”—but the dollar’s “long, slow slide” down will eventually push up consumer prices.