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The Department of Labor is considering a new law that would tighten the advise that financial advisors can give to their clients. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates the ruling would save retirees up to $17 billion per year.

Earnest is a Silicon Valley start-up that has launched to offer consumers unsecured loans with rates as low as 4.25% APR. Loans are up to $30,000.

GE Capital has now moved heavily into the online savings bank arena, launching two separately FDIC insured online banks in 2013.

Most people who want to leave money or property to their heirs think the best thing they can do is create a will. While a will is a good thing to consider—and it's certainly better than having nothing at all - here is a better option for some people. If you have accumulated significant assets (including property value), fear there may be a dispute over your assets when you pass on, own real estate in another state, or want to keep your affairs strictly private - out of publicly accessible court documents - then you may want to consider a living trust instead of a regular will.

Hewlett Packard asserted on November 20, 2012 that it was the victim of massive accounting fraud in its October 2011 $10 billion acquisition of Autonomy. The issue of whether fraud occurred is fascinating, but secondary to the reality that Hewlett Packard - like no other stock in recent history - demonstrates the danger of chasing dividends and looking at PE ratios. Does the stock represent value here?

With continuous dividend growth since 2004, and an astonishing dividend growth of 24% in 2011, Intel remains a safe bet for dividend investors.

Earlier this month, Michael Santoli in his article, "Starting to Smell a Little Ripe" noted, "While it's perfectly reasonable for a mature, no-growth business to redirect what cash it generates to shareholders, the notion of investor-pleasing, dividend-boosting blue-chip stock of a structurally challenged company can't persist forever." Santoli makes a nice case of this argument with Waste Management in his article, but can the same be said for other stable, mature, and high dividend companies?

Chevron has increased annual dividend to shareholders every year for the last 25 years with dividend growth likely to continue in the years to come.

Microsoft has an ever-growing stash of cash and short term investments totaling over $60 Billion, but still has a long way to go before catching up to competitors like Apple and Google in the mobile, online, and consumer markets.

With a market capitalization of $71B, a Beta of 0.54, and a dividend yield of 3%, Kraft Foods Inc. deserves a place in the portfolio of a conservative investor looking for the preservation of capital and solid dividend payments.