GOING into the housing bust, I would have accepted David Leonhardt’s general framing in this piece: that the decision to rent or buy one’s home is primarily about the relative costs, and that most people should at least consider buying if the price to rent ratio hits a certain threshold. These days, I think that’s not at all the right way to think about the choice. Homeownership, let’s recall, is in most cases a highly leveraged, undiversified, relatively illiquid bet, with a return that is highly correlated to local labour market conditions. In general, responsible financial planners would warn their clients away from such an investment.

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April 22 () – A fault on the national grid caused a power outage affecting 84,000 Wellington customers for approximately one and a half hours this afternoon.

The fault occurred in the Wilton sub-station, where “vital maintenance” was being undertaken on one of the “buses” delivering a power feed to central Wellington, grid operator Transpower said.

Another bus at the substation, which was carrying load instead, failed, removing the back-up that is always supposed to be available while maintenance is occurring.

Power was restored just before 4.30pm.

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Improving your finances doesn’t always have to be a question of saving money. Taking steps to increase your income is a legitimate option, and can make the books much easier to balance in the end. One of the most important strategies is to ask your boss for a raise: the worst that can usually happen is a “no”, but with proper preparation, you may be able to convince your boss to say yes. Here are some easy ways to improve your odds.

1. Ask for it: If you haven’t had a raise in a while, asking for one may just be the motivation your boss needs. Take a good look at your personnel file and see how you stand out from the crowd — be prepared to win over your boss. If you ca

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Dalit Waissman took sued Life Insurance Company of North America (LINA) when the company terminated her long-term disability payments in May 2006. In arguments presented before District Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court’s Northern District of California, San Jose Division on January 20, 2010, Waissman’s disability attorney did his best to show that the material in Waissman’s claim’s file demonstrated beyond doubt that Waissman was disabled according to the definitions laid out within her former employer’s long-term disability plan.

→ Click here to continue reading Did LINA wrongfully deny disability payments to claimant with multiple sclerosis? (Part II)