Hedging Against Retirees’ Big Fears

My Comments: This is a long post so beware. But it serves to express clearly three topics that I encounter almost every time I have a heart to heart talk with a retired, or soon to be retired client. It’s not intended to increase your fears, but rather put what fears there are in perspective …

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New Survey Validates That US Physicians are Ailing

My Comments: Some of you are aware of my efforts to bring a new idea about medical malpractice insurance to those physicians who own their own practice. Essentially, its a financial strategy that causes 50% of the premiums to return when there are few or no claims made in any given year. Clearly, not all …

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Recession, Tech Kill Middle-class Jobs

My Comments: There is usually a disconnect between how the economy is perceived and how well the investment world is doing. There are three reasons why stock prices increase: earnings, earnings, earnings. If those are doing OK, then the price is going to increase since more people are buying stocks than are selling. Globalization, an …

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Is the Bond Bear Market Finally Here?

By Joyce Hanson, AdvisorOne The broad high-quality bond market began 2013 on a sour note with a sell-off, posting its worst weekly performance since March 2012, as U.S. Treasury prices declined on news of a fiscal cliff resolution, LPL Financial’s bond expert reported Tuesday. While LPL doesn’t believe the sell-off is the start of a …

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S&P 500 Will Hit Record High in 2013: Birinyi

Stock guru sees extended run-up for stocks; 'everybody into the pool' My Comments: Laszlo Birinyi is one of those people who have made both good and bad predictions before yet are almost always seen as having a better insight into the future than the rest of us. Whether we hit a record high in 2013 …

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Thought for the Week

Here we are at the end of the year and that means it’s almost time for NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS! For me, these are always things I’ve been putting off and this is an opportunity to force myself to act! Unfortunately, after a while, they become depressing, since for the past several decades, I’ve never been …

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Financial Advisors Cling To Failed Strategies, Says Report

My Comments: A quick analysis of a popular chart showing good times and bad times for the US economy should give everyone a better understanding of the advice given by virtually all financial advisors. Unless and until you realize the world today is different from what it was several years ago, you’re likely to take …

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4 Costly Social Security Mistakes

My Thoughts on This: This is an issue that is increasingly complicated. In the "old" days, you simply reached a certain age, signed up, and began to get a check. The size of the check was a function of how much you had contributed over the years. Then there was the possibility of starting before …

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Tax Increases, Spending Cuts Earn Public Support

My Thoughts on This: The media would have you believe that the “fiscal cliff” is the most closely watched and critical issue on the planet. How else can they promote listeners and eyeballs that result in advertising revenue? For me, it’s interesting but not critical. I think there is likely to be a slowdown in …

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Big GM Investment in China

My Comments: Not talked about much during the recent election campaign but in the back of my mind as I pondered the merits of the GOP vs Dems. The neo-con crowd who were backing Romney were the same people who pushed as hard as anyone to get us into Iraq in 2002-03 and have been …

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