Individual Retirement Funds

E. F. Hutton Wins Suit by Investor: A two-week trial against E. F. Hutton and two of its brokers ended with jurors refusing to award $300,000 plus punitive damages to retired businessman Irwin H. Goldenberg, who claimed he was defrauded. Goldenberg filed the case in U.S.

Perhaps one of the biggest myths in our society is that your retirement years are easy. Sure, quitting your job may not require much effort, but the rest of it--such as knowing how to manage and invest savings wisely and how to negotiate the maze of Social Security regulations--is hard. Doubts and uncertainity persist. And answers are hard to come by.

Perhaps one of the biggest myths in our society is that your retirement years are easy. Sure, quitting your job may not require much effort, but the rest of it--such as knowing how to manage and invest savings wisely and how to negotiate the maze of Social Security regulations--is hard. Doubts and uncertainity persist. And answers are hard to come by.

E. F. Hutton Wins Suit by Investor: A two-week trial against E. F. Hutton and two of its brokers ended with jurors refusing to award $300,000 plus punitive damages to retired businessman Irwin H. Goldenberg, who claimed he was defrauded. Goldenberg filed the case in U.S.

On Tuesday, President Clinton signed legislation aimed at balancing the U.S. budget and giving Americans $95 billion in tax cuts. J.D. Rinde, West Orange County district manager for H&R Block Inc., finds that "kind of exciting." For the last several years, he said, most changes in the tax code have affected primarily businesses and investors. "This year there are pretty good changes that will affect a lot of lower- and middle-income people," he said.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp broke ranks with the Bush Administration on a central portion of the President's economic recovery plan Saturday, calling the proposal to change federal tax withholding laws a "gimmick." Kemp, a leading economic conservative in the Bush Cabinet, leveled surprisingly strong criticism at the President for his decision to allow taxpayers to reduce the amount of income tax withheld from their paychecks.

Q: Here's a hypothetical situation: Two people buy a house together for $200,000. Party One puts up one-third of the down payment and Party Two, who will live in the house, puts up two-thirds. What is the best division of the mortgage and other expenses? How are profits divided when the house is sold? --I.S.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose by 39.03 points Friday, the third-largest one-day gain in its history. The rally climaxed the biggest week in the history of the closely watched index of blue-chip stocks, a 92.91-point gain that brought the Dow to a record 1,792.74. "We are in Disneyland, there's no doubt about that," said Eugene Peroni, a stock market analyst for the Los Angeles investment firm of Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards.

Q. Two years after being forced to take an early retirement, I find I could really use some of my individual retirement account funds to cover my living expenses. The only problem is that I am 57 years old. I understand that there is some provision in the tax code permitting taxpayers under age 59 1/2 to make early withdrawals without penalty. Can you explain the rules? --J.P . A.

Q: I began drawing Social Security at age 70 and because of the delay, my benefits are 115% of what they would have been at age 65. My wife began drawing benefits on her own account at age 62. When I die and my wife begins drawing widows' benefits on my account, what amount will she be entitled to receive--the 115% that I was getting, or the basic amount I would have received at age 65? -- W.K .

Stock prices rose strongly again Monday, hitting record highs for the third straight session on the Dow Jones average of 30 industrials and reflecting a late bond market rally and continued optimism over the future of the U.S. economy. The Dow closed 12.96 points higher at a record 1,626.38 as a late surge, triggered by a drop in interest rates, nearly doubled early gains.

The House voted, 221 to 209, Thursday to approve a Democratic alternative to President Bush's package of election-year tax cuts, but the unusually close margin embarrassed the Democratic leadership and virtually ensured a presidential veto. The Democratic measure was adopted after the House voted, 264 to 166, to kill a rival Republican plan containing a streamlined version of the economic stimulus package that Bush had asked Congress to pass by March 20 in an effort to combat the recession.