I think we all know the name Bernie Madoff. What we don't know is how his actions have influenced how ordinary people interact with their financial advisors. But I rarely have a conversation with a prospective client anymore that isn't influenced by Madoff. Many individuals begin an interaction with a financial advisor as a result …
Category: Investment Planning
Just How Bad Is The Economy Right Now?
I probably sound like Gloomy Gus and with good reason. Here's further evidence that we're just going to have to keep slogging along for the next several months and hope for the best. Slate's website has a good summary... Read it here.
AARP: Older Americans may never recover from recession
Some days there is good news and other days it's not so good. The last few days have been not so good. I recently talked about the use of insurance as a way to help overcome the lack of time issues associated with "investing for the long term". This article is another reminder that the …
Continue reading AARP: Older Americans may never recover from recession
Investment Advice vs Insurance Advice
It's amazing the number of financial advisors who still think insurance is separate from investment planning and will embrace any non-insurance option rather than use insurance or annuities to address their clients' needs. Increasingly, there are insurance products that bridge an important gap. If, when you are 35 years old, and you do something stupid, …
Financial Crisis Redux
Clients are understandably worried about what will happen to their money going forward. We've spent the last two plus years attempting to recover from a crisis, trying to assign blame, and working to find ways to reasure both ourselves and our clients about the future. Here's an article that suggests that among the culprits for …
Mid Week Commentary
For those of you wanting an up to the minute summary of the technical side of the markets, here is our Mid Week Commentary, courtesy of ING. Click HERE to download a four page .pdf with current statistics and informaiton.
Inherited IRAs
Most of us know about IRAs, about how we can put aside money each year into an account that gives us a tax deduction this year, leaving the money to grow tax deferred until we are ready to take it and spend it during retirement. What many folks don't know is what happens to that …
How Much Money Do You Need For Retirement?
How much is enough? Can you grow enough money to retire and still send your kids to college? How much time is left to make it happen? Click on the CollegeMoneyNow tab to find a way to help pay for college, leaving your retirement nest egg intact. By Bob Seawright The financial services industry finally …
REALLOCATION ALERT
Sometime in the last ten days, I posted a comment from one of the money managers employed by my firm. These money managers are referred to as TAMPs. This stands for Third-party Asset Management Programs. The comment I posted included the name of that TAMP, and while I have a contractual relationship with that program, …
Concern About Europe and the Euro
The recent kerfuffle with DSK and the International Money Fund has resulted in a lot of teeth gnashing regarding how well Europe is going to move forward economically, especially in the short term, given that DSK was a driving force behind Europe's position as a player in the global economy. Here is a three page …
Helping Define Your Financial Future 