Personal Finance Advice and Commentary

Luxury carmakers are enjoying record sales worldwide.

Wealthier buyers are unleashing pent-up demand for new homes.

Luxury is an important part of Europe’s wealth, as reflected in its top 10 billionaires.

The global wealth boom produced an appetite for luxury products that went unchecked until the economy began slumping in 2008.

Real estate kingpin Donald Trump is feeling the pain of the downturn in the global housing market. Buyers in one of his latest luxury condo/hotel buildings in Toronto began having second thoughts even before the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Condos in the 65-story Trump International Hotel and Tower start at $2.3 million and hotel condos start at

Who is purchasing the most expensive real estate? Although buyers from around the globe are investing in the downturn in the U.S., the Russians are writing the biggest checks, according to The New York Times. Since the real estate market crashed four years ago, the Times reports that Russians have signed contracts for more than

At the beginning of the housing crash, it seemed as though luxury homes might be spared the worst of it. But the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices show that in many metro areas, prices are stabilizing among cheaper homes but still falling in the high-end real estate market. So far, according to Smart

If your vision of retirement communities is a few dozen prefab homes scattered around a shuffleboard court, you haven’t been keeping up with the latest trend in homebuilding. These days, retirement communities for those over age 55 have upped the ante significantly, with amenities such as valet parking, dog-walkers and five-star chefs. There are even “lifestyle directors”

The rich are ratcheting up their spending and feeling more confident about their own wealth and the direction of the economy, according to the 2011 luxury market survey by American Express and Harrison Group. Households with at least $100,000 in discretionary income were surveyed, which represents the top 10 percent of wealth in the U.S.

During the recession of 2009, even the wealthy held back their discretionary spending on luxury amid fears and uncertainty about the direction of the economy. But the latest data from Mastercard Advisors SpendingPulse shows that sales of luxury items are up 6.1 percent in January from a year ago. Luxury brands are also reporting strong