When It Pays To Hire A Financial Advisor…And The Good They Do

Recently in a piece written for Morningstar.com, Christine Benz had this to say about “When It Pays to Hire A Financial Professional”: Paying a financial planner an ongoing fee to handle every aspect of your financial plan can make sense if you’re extremely time-pressed or if your finances are particularly complicated. Ditto if you’re very (Continued)

The Pension Pinch or The War of the Ages?

Some years ago I read a pamphlet entitled The Pension Idea (Amazon says it is out of print, but you can find it by searching elsewhere) wherein the author pointed out the dubious origins, purposes and sustainability of pensions. I acknowledged the wisdom of his assessment, but didn’t think it had much practical applicability to (Continued)

So What’s Your HATE Of Return?

I know this may sound strange coming from an investment professional, but I have come to HATE rate of return discussions.  The way that most companies present investment “rate of return” to their prospective clients is generally so over-simplified and remote in time as to border on the ridiculous, if not in fact fraudulent. These (Continued)

The Best Place To Store Money

Blogger’s Note: This article was originally written in September 2009 as an email to clients. Here are a few excerpts from an article in this month’s Financial Planning magazine entitled: Better Than Nothing: Clients are piling up cash for both anticipated spending needs and future opportunities. But where do you put it? In the country (Continued)

Uncommon (But Good) Advice

 Blogger’s note: Amended version of an email sent to clients in March, 2009. I came across this interesting statement in one of the most successful investment newsletters of the past 25 years: “Prudent investors keep a minimum of the next couple of year’s worth of living expenses out of the market.” Really!?! Other than from The (Continued)

URGENT: 401(K) or Not O(K)?

I hate to be alarmist.  And no, I am not trying to manipulate you through fear.  In fact, my only concern is to protect you and your wealth from the vagaries of the financial markets and the appetite of the ever-expanding government. Recently some news reports have come out stating that the government is considering (Continued)

Time To Take Stock…Just Not Wallstreet’s

Blogger’s note: This message was originally sent out in July, 2008, at the height of that year’s market meltdown. During times of economic and market turmoil like we are seeing today, I invariably get asked: “Is it time to cash out and head for the hills?”  What they are really asking is what does the (Continued)