By Kathleen Kingsbury BOSTON | Thu May 24, 2012 8:06am EDT BOSTON (Reuters) - Kevin Kaminski and Maureen Clarke rented their dream home last November: A pre-Victorian farmhouse in Hamilton, Massachusetts, with a sun-drenched southern exposure, fireplaces in every room, original hardwood floors and more than an acre of land adjacent to a wooded park. The couple's landlord, the state of Massachusetts, threw in irresistible rent terms on the 25-year lease: $0.The hitch? Dodge House, as it is known, needed a total renovation. Boarded up for more than a decade, it had wasps in its walls, a decaying septic tank and rotting asbestos floor tiles. Over the last six months, Kaminski has worked full-time and spent some $25,000 to make the house habitable.Kaminski and Clarke ... Continue reading →

By Nanette Byrnes Fri May 25, 2012 7:05am EDT (Reuters) - Georgia State Representative Allen Peake owns 20 restaurants and this year he took his frustrations with his tax bills to the state capitol, where he helped push through legislation creating a new state tax court. "I've had several sales tax audits done and disputed them, and never felt I had a fair shake," said Peake, echoing the views of other business owners.Before Peake's bill passed, Georgia taxpayers challenging state tax authorities had to pay disputed taxes before appealing them. Their appeals would be heard by the same Department of Revenue that levied the tax in the first place. And further appeals could be overruled by the revenue commissioner or heard by a judge without ... Continue reading →

By Jessica Toonkel and John McCrank Fri May 25, 2012 1:10am EDT (Reuters) - Claims by four of Wall Street's main market makers against Nasdaq over Facebook's botched IPO are likely to exceed $100 million, as they and other traders continue to deal with thousands of problems with customer orders. A technical glitch delayed the social networking company's market debut by 30 minutes on Friday and many client orders were delayed, giving some investors and traders significant losses as the stock price dropped. The exchange operator is facing lawsuits from investors and threats of legal action from brokers.Four of the top market makers in the Facebook IPO -- Knight Capital, Citadel Securities, UBS AG and Citi's Automated Trading Desk -- collectively have probably lost more ... Continue reading →

Thu May 24, 2012 5:34pm EDT (Reuters) - For some U.S. states the new fiscal year will bring an old problem: shortfalls. Budget gaps totaling $54 billion emerged in state budgets for fiscal 2013, according to a the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that tracks state fiscal issues.Not all states are created equal when it comes to budgets as not all have fiscal years starting in July and not all are drafting their budgets.Still some "30 states have projected - and in many cases have already closed - budget gaps," the center said. "These shortfalls are all the more daunting because states' options for addressing them are fewer and more difficult than in recent years."The picture is an improvement from a ... Continue reading →

By Francesca Donner Getty Images People say they hate corporate buzzwords, but that doesn’t stop them using them. (See: The Buzzwords We Can’t Help Using.) One of the biggest offenders is “innovation.” Companies use it to suggest they’re on the cutting edge when they’re really just describing ordinary progress; schools are incorporating it into their curricula. Has the word — and concept — become so overused as to have lost its meaning? Many say it has. In short, “innovation” has become a cliche, a corporate buzzword. And it’s not alone. Turns out there’s a slew of buzzwords and buzz phrases that drive people crazy. We invited WSJ readers to share their least-liked workplace buzzwords, and more than 100 responded. Here’s the best of the worst: ... Continue reading →

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From left, Nancy, Van, and Michael Wolff in 1958. On the way to visit my mother one recent rainy afternoon, I stopped in, after quite some constant prodding, to see my insurance salesman. He was pressing his efforts to sell me a long-term-care policy with a pitch about how much I’d save if I bought it now, before the rates were set to precipitously rise. For $5,000 per year, I’d receive, when I needed it, a daily sum to cover my future nursing costs. With an annual inflation adjustment of 5 percent, I could get in my dotage (or the people caring for me would get) as much as $900 a day. My mother carries such a policy, and it pays, in 2012 dollars, $180 ... Continue reading →