My Comments: I've been a supporter of the PPACA or if you prefer, ObamaCare, since the beginning. My belief in it is based on the trend in place where health care costs consumed an ever increasing share of our national GDP and sooner or later would come a sticky end. Whether the PPACA solves the …
Continue reading You Can Thank Ben Bernanke for 100% of the Stock Market Gains Since 2009
My Comments: OK, we’re all getting on in years, some of us more so than others. Baby boomers are starting to ask compelling questions about Social Security, about health care issues, and dozens of other topics that a 30 year old cannot yet start to think about. That’s OK; I couldn’t either when I was …
Continue reading Three Key Strategies for Helping Clients Navigate Aging Plans
My Comments: For many years, more than I care to remember, I searched for wisdom from among the many magazines and more recently, the many emails that cross my desk on a daily basis. How and what was going to happen and how could I help my clients benefit from the insights that surely came …
My Comments: The other day, on February 17th, I had a post that explained how today is NOT 1929 all over again. If you found that story, and this chart interesting, then here is a follow up. Hopefully, it will help you navigate the waters as they are flowing today in 2014. Chris Ciovacco, Ciovacco …
Continue reading Checking In On The 1929 Stock Market Parallel
My Comments: Understanding how markets work over time is a very helpful skill set if you are advising clients about their money. Especially if they are worried about where money will come from to pay their bills far into the future. For many, the short term “noise” that comes from what one reads in papers …
Continue reading Treading Water: Four Economic & Market Trends Likely to Continue in 2014
My Comments: I’m increasingly being asked by people to help answer their questions about Social Security. Here is a short overview of critical ages as you begin to think about retirement. by: Paul Norr / Wednesday, February 19, 2014 There are many age-related financial and planning milestones that clients will encounter in their sixties. Here …
My Comments: I am almost always amused by those who shout “Take Back America!”. But it’s not really amusing, is it? Take it back to when? Take it back from whom? Before women had the right to vote? When the average life expectancy was about age 50? Many of us, who today are over 60 …
Continue reading The American Public’s Indifference to Foreign Affairs
My Comments: You have perhaps heard the expression that “... it’s like watching grass grow.” Or perhaps “... it’s like watching paint dry.” I use it when something I’m supposed to be paying attention to is progressing slooooooowly. It comes to mind in the constext of this article which has demographic overtones. Personally, I’m on …
My Comments: Yesterday, I talked about amateurs and professionals when it comes to investing money. About how emotions get in the way at crucial times, often promoted by people who rarely have any reason to say what is in YOUR best interest, only what is in THEIR best interest. If they can persuade you to …
My Comments: So, is it 1929 all over again? Is the world as we know it coming to an end? We're doomed, I tell you, DOOMED!. Well, maybe not. As a financial planner and investment advisor, I try to have something posted about investments at least once a week. I’m not sure if I’m successful, …
Helping Define Your Financial Future 