10 Things You Must Know About Social Security

My Comments: Next month I start a new job; teaching folks about Social Security. Actually, it’s a function of my need to keep busy and an apparent ability to share 40 years of experience as a financial planner with people who need to know about this very important financial element of their lives. This article, …

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America’s Middle-class Meltdown

1/5 of US adults live in or near poverty My Comments: Followers of my posts can recall numerous times over the past five years when I’ve talked about the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots. If not corrected, there’s going to be rioting in the streets before my five year old grandson reaches …

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How to Trump-proof Your Portfolio

My Comments: This is not intended as a political statement. However, clients are asking me whether there are likely to be economic consequences, and therefore an impact on their investment portfolios, if Donald Trump wins the Presidency. These comments appeared in The Financial Times and may or may not apply to you. Gillian Tett – …

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How Much Stock Should You Have in Your Retirement Accounts?

My Comments: This question has been asked every years for the almost 30 years that I’ve called myself a financial professional. Unfortunately, there is no best answer. Human nature, in the form of doubts, confidence, expectations, past experience, impatience, timing and fear, all conspire to force our hand when attempting to make intelligent decisions. Good …

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High and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy

My Comments: This video appeared on http://www.worldbank.org. It reminded me of comments from several years ago by Thomas P.M. Barnett, an American military geostrategist and former Chief Analyst at Wikistrat. He argued that over the next few decades, the US would remain the pre-eminent global society because we alone, perhaps along with Canada, have the …

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7 Things That Will Soon Disappear Forever

My Comments: I try hard to worry only about the present and the future. Here are seven things I took for granted today that will soon be gone. Trying to bring these back, even if they hold good memories for us, will not be possible. I tell myself to get used to it, but it’s …

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Five Truths Every Investor Needs to Know: #1

My Comments: This is the first of five “truths” that appear in a brochure published recently by Invesco, a global wealth management company with offices in over 20 countries, serving clients in more than 150 countries. As you consider your wealth, or lack of it, these ideas may serve to keep you grounded and making …

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Onward, Fellow Humans!

My Thoughts: This is not political, but these days it's hard to not have an intelligent conversation about life without it having political overtones. And as someone intimately involved with economics and finance, these thoughts by Joe Brewer resonate with me. It's about a five minute read. By Joe Brewer, April 21, 2016 The Pain …

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Why Retirement Is a Flawed Concept

My Comments: Did you see the recent study that suggested continued part time work had a very positive effect on your health? My impression is that if you retire without a manifest new purpose in life, you are essentially sitting around waiting to die. I am aggressively filling my time with activities that reflect my …

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Top 10 Phrases from Bank Lobbyists and their Translation

My Comments: On April 6, 2016, rules were introduced into the US financial system that will cause more of us to treat our clients better. At least that’s the plan. Wall Street firms have been resisting this change for years, and while the following Top 10 Reasons Why are tongue in cheek, there’s a whole …

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