Rising interest rates may be prompting real estate investment trust funds to fall, but there's good reason to hold on to them: dividends. Real estate investment trusts are required to distribute at least 90 percent of their taxable income as dividends to shareholders each year, says Jeremy Walter, portfolio analyst at Halberstadt Financial Consultants in Princeton, New Jersey. The income from healthy dividends – sometimes as much as 8 percent or more – can lift the overall REIT fund's return,...

Your wedding day is supposed to be one of the happiest days in your life, and it doesn’t come cheap. But like most industries, the wedding industry contains unethical vendors and scams that can ruin the big day. “Weddings are extremely emotional for a lot of people and it is easy for scammers to take advantage of that,” says Amy Eisinger, an editor for WeddingChannel.com. From fake dress labels to unlicensed vendors, wedding scams come in many forms. And according to Eisinger, couples aren’t...

Travel professionals from around the globe are looking to showcase their countries' real estate deals to individuals looking to purchase a vacation or retirement home abroad by offering trip subsidies. Developers and real-estate companies are enticing interested buyers by offering free or subsidized familiarization [FAM] tours in developing areas to make foreign real-estate investing a little easier. The three-to-four-day small group tours often include lodging, meals and ground...

Adjusting to life without a steady income is difficult for retirees, but taking a close look at your budget and spending habits can help ease the transition. “Figure out what your retirement income is going to be and figure out what you have to cut,” says Bob Williams, senior vice president of Delta Trust Investments in Little Rock, Ark. “Sit down and look at each individual expense. Have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting. Can I afford this?” Eliminating unnecessary spending in retirement can help...

Health-care reform turned one last week, but Americans are still facing massive medical bills. A recent study from Deloitte reveals consumers spent $363 billion in health care during that period, 14.7% more than traditionally reported by official government accounts, mostly due to costs that fall outside of traditional health-care spending On top of that, about 80% of medical bills contain errors, according to Christie Hudson, vice president of Medical Billing Advocates of America, making...