My Thoughts About This: Inflation is one of those existential threats I always talk about with clients. But it’s like watching a car rust. You simply don’t notice it on a daily or monthly basis. But the Oh MY God inflation that happened to the Weimer Republic in 1921-24 or perhaps more recently in Argentina, …
Month: November 2015
Cameron’s Cunning Plan for Bombing ISIS in Syria
My Thoughts: Now that Thanksgiving Day has passed, and Black Friday is upon us, it’s time to come back to earth. BTW, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends; let’s do it again next year. The subtitle of this article, which comes from The Financial Times, reads as follows: The questions …
Continue reading Cameron’s Cunning Plan for Bombing ISIS in Syria
Investors Avoiding Both Stocks And Bonds
My Thoughts: Many of us are concerned about our investments. We don’t want our money under the mattress; we don’t want it all in money markets; we know bonds are going to get hammered when the Fed decides to start raising interest rates; and we know that over the past three months, the stock market …
China’s Currency Conundrum
My Comments: Our standard of living, yours and mine, used to be a function of how well we built our house and how well we managed to feed and clothe ourselves. That was perhaps 250 years ago, a single blip in the passage of time. A blip later it’s a little more complicated. Among the …
9 Charts Showing Big Global Slowdown Is On Its Way
My Comments: There are two messages here. The first is a global recession is most likely about to happen. The second is the published report has 49 pages with dozens of charts. If looking at charts makes you happy, you will be thrilled. Will Martin Nov. 14, 2015 The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development …
Continue reading 9 Charts Showing Big Global Slowdown Is On Its Way
A Reverse Mortgage To Protect Your Retirement Income
My Comments: Confused? Skeptical? A normal response. But as someone with 40 years of experience as a financial planner, a reverse mortgage can be a significant tool to promote financial freedom as we live out our retirement years. Nov 11, 2015, by Robert Powell Advisers have long looked down on reverse mortgages: Only the most …
Continue reading A Reverse Mortgage To Protect Your Retirement Income
Enlargement and the Euro are Two Big Mistakes That Ruined Europe
My Comments: This was written before the events in Paris last weekend. They have changed the landscape for this analysis. None of us has any memory of Europe as it was at the start of the last century. Some of us have memories of the many nations that survived the depths of World War II. …
Continue reading Enlargement and the Euro are Two Big Mistakes That Ruined Europe
Compare Your Medicare Plan Options
My Thoughts: If you’re not 65 and on Medicare, read no further. Maybe. My wife and I are both signed up for Medicare, a Medicare Supplement plan and Plan D, which provides prescription drug benefits. Each year there is an open enrollment period which allows you to switch or confirm the best plan for you. …
Fifth Generation Warfare: Follow the Food!
My Thoughts About This: For several years I followed the writings of Thomas P. M. Barnett. About 3 years ago, he suddenly closed his blog. He posted thousands of ideas and articles about global economics and security issues, most of which made sense. I never forgot one of them where he predicted that by 2045, …
A Fantasy World?
My Comments: My cousin vowed to stop shouting about the state of political dialog these days; he asked me to do the same, and to some extent, I've tried. There are dynamics at work right now that overwhelm the electorate and the media as we stumble toward the next presidential election in 12 months. But …
Helping Define Your Financial Future 