My Comments: Interest rates are the price paid for using money owned by someone else. The rise and fall of that price, which we call interest, is a critical element when it comes to deciding how your money should be invested. For over 30 years they have been trending down and you will soon see …
Category: Investing Money
Staring Into An Abyss
My Comments: Greece is the focus for many of us whose professional interest is the management of money, both for ourselves and our clients. I’ve said the crisis has the potential to be calamitous, not just for Europe, but for the rest of the world too. Here, Scott Minerd suggests we step back a bit …
Exposing The Dark Side of Personal Finance
My Comments: A recent report that airlines may be colluding on price is but one example of corporate excess that pervades our system. It’s not yet systemic, but given the opportunity, corporate America will take steps to advance its own cause at our expense. After 40 years as a financial planner, I’m sensitive to questionable …
Sunny with a Chance of Turbulence
My Comments: Many of us were blindsided by the severity of the pullback that happened in 2008-09. Many of us are still trying to get back to where we were and are fearful of it happening again soon. Some on TV are pushing the idea that it’s just around the corner. It’s not. The chance …
5 Dumbest Investing Bets
My Comments: There is a distinction between dumb and ignorant. The second you can fix with mental effort, but the first just happens. Sometimes I wonder if people are born this way or whether they have to work at it. These five ‘bets’ happen often. Many times it’s because someone has “sold” them the idea, …
Exposing The Dark Side of Personal Finance
My Comments: In keeping with the prevailing assumption that anything you see on TV or read on the internet is gospel, financial planners are constantly trying to undo the “lessons” taught by certain celebreties who are more interested in selling books than they are in providing good information. Whenever I’ve attended regional meetings with hundreds …
Like It Or Not, All Advisors Are Now Fiduciaries
My Comments: In my capacity as a financial planner and investment advisor, I’ve long embraced a fiduciary standard. This means I’m bound morally, ethically and legally to do what, in my professional opinion, is in my client’s best interests. Corporate financial America (Wall Street in general, the insurance industry, money managers, et al) and their …
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Strange Machinations
My Comments:There is an old adage about stock prices being a function of earnings, earnings, earnings. It's similar to the adage about real estate prices being a function of location, location and location. You and I know there are other variables, but how to identify and quantify those variables is another matter. Perhaps you've noticed …
Dog Days of the U.S. Expansion
My Comments: How is your money growing? Is it growing? Do you care? Are you prepared for pain when it stops growing and shrinks, perhaps dramatically? As a professional in this world, I’ve long since given up worrying about this. All anyone can do is pay attention, or pay someone to pay attention for you. …
Luddites Fear Humanity Will Make Short Work of Finite Wants
My Comments: A conversation yesterday with a good friend resulted from her comment about the absurdity of Obamas’ suggestion that college education should be free for all students. Mindful that some of them will not qualify, and some will not want a college education, I argued that it was a great idea, that many employers …
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