It occurred to me last week that I’ve become pretty gloomy in the posts I’ve been putting up these last few weeks. This happened in the car on my way home and I began to reflect on good things that have happened to me recently, the fact that I’ve considered myself a lucky person all …
Category: Retirement Planning
Ideas to help preserve and grow your money
The New Rules:
Tom Barnett is a self described strategic thinker. His focus is on what is likely to happen several years down the road, whether its political, military, demographic or whatever. It's sometimes difficult for me to worry about what might happen several years away when the here and now is driving us up the wall. But …
The Mythical Social Security Crisis of 2011
Even without congressional action, the retirement system won’t go broke for decades, so why all the fuss? It’s all about scaring voters. By David Morris, Senior Political Editor, The Kiplinger Letter That’s right. The sky is not falling. It’s not, as retiring rockers R.E.M. would put it, “the end of the world as we know …
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A Crisis of Capitalism
By George Magnus, author of Uprising: Will Emerging Markets Shape or Shake the World Economy? Financial markets have had a torrid summer of breaking news about slowing global growth, fears over a new western economic contraction and the unresolved bond market and banking crisis in the eurozone. But these sources of angst have triggered turbulence …
The Pros and Cons of Paying off Your Mortgage Early
Given current economic pressures, many people are trying to erase debt from their financial picture and focus on saving and safer investments. Americans are paying down their credit cards and cautiously borrowing money. Not surprisingly, paying down the home mortgage has become an attractive option for people in a financial position to do so. However, …
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Another Lost Decade?
Lin Yifu, a chief economist with the World Bank, says maybe. Many financial advisors, working to help their clients accumulate enough money for retirement, are painfully aware of the investment risk associated with the “lost decade” that Japan suffered through recently. The sagging economies of the developed world still account for 60% of the combined …
U.S. Foreign Policy and Electoral Realities
Every now and then I come across something that helps makes sense of the world around me when all the pieces seem disconnected. These are things over which I have absolutely no control, yet all play a role in our lives. In my case as an investment advisor, they influence my clients financial success, and …
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“Let Him Die”
I want to build on comments revealed the other day in a writing by Jacob Weisberg which appeared on September 13th. He was talking about the debate in Florida that featured 8 Republican presidential hopefuls. For many years I’ve been telling my children that one of the issues they will face as they age is …
The 2012 rivals can be named: Hayek v Keynes
From the Financial Times (Great Britain), by Steven Rattner ( A view from the other side of the Atlantic ) In a fusillade of debates and speeches President Barack Obama and his Republican challengers have firmly established the economic policy combat lines for next year. What an electoral battle it will be – a clash …
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How To Prevent a Depression
Eight drastic policy measures necessary to prevent global economic collapse. None of them will be popular. By Nouriel Roubini Posted Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 The latest economic data suggest that recession is returning to most advanced economies, with financial markets now reaching levels of stress unseen since the collapse of Lehman Bros. in 2008. The …
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