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© Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images     December is here, and you know what that means. No, not just winter and shopping and “Star Wars” and Santa Claus. This year, December likely also means a long-awaited interest rate hike. It is widely expected that the Federal Reserve will raise rates at its policy meeting later this month, from a range of 0-to-0.25 percent to 0.25-to-0.50 percent. This, despite the small absolute change, is actually a pretty big deal. It would end the long experiment with rock bottom interest rates that started in 2008. And it would represent the first monetary policy tightening in nearly 10 years. Millions of Americans will be affected. Car loans will get more expensive. Mortgage rates will rise. Floating rates on credit cards and home equity loans will rise. Related: 10 Ways the Fed’s Looming Rate Hike Touches You But how, exactly, will Fed Chair Janet Yellen and her   cohorts actually increase the cost of credit? The simple ...

I thought I would start my speech by addressing you as the “new” family of my daughter. But I think it would be inappropriate because now that she is married, you are “the family” for her. Believe me; I don’t have a problem with that. I, in fact, want my daughter to have “you” as her priority now. Its time for us to take a backseat in her life. We would happily accept it but would surely request one thing- please keep her happy! I am more than sure that you will keep her very happy. She will perhaps be happier than what she used to be here. But like all fathers, I obsess over my daughter’s happiness which is making me say this over and over again- please keep her happy! She never was and will never be a burden for me. She is in fact the reason why I breathe and smile. I am getting her married because this is what the law of nature demands. I am helpless in the face of our culture and therefore sending her to your home. She was the happiness of my home and will now light up your home. ...