The idea behind this post comes from an article by Gordon A. Schaller Several years ago you purchased a life insurance policy. You did this even though you always thought life insurance was a bad investment with returns of only 3-4%. However, this policy was supposed to be different; the premiums could be flexible and …
Continue reading Volatility Can Kill Your Variable Life Insurance Policy
By Laszlo Birinyi The S&P 500 has been perilously close to a 20 per cent decline in recent weeks which would, by definition, terminate the bull market which began in March 2009. Given the economic circumstances and the continuing political turmoil on both sides of the Atlantic, most commentators believe it is only a matter …
Continue reading Reasons to Be Bullish, But With a Lower Case ‘b’
By William H. Byrnes, Esq., Robert Bloink, Esq., LL.M. (A quick note: For those not already in the know, “Crummey" refers to a tax court case. The "powers" granted as a result of the ruling allows a person to effectively transfer meaningful amounts of one’s assets downstream to the next generations without causing you to …
The bond market indicator that has predicted every U.S. recession since 1970 shows that the economy has about a 60 percent chance of contracting within 12 months. The so-called Treasury yield curve, adjusted for distortions caused by the Federal Reserve’s record low zero to 0.25 percent target interest rate for overnight loans between banks, shows …
It's the question every Boomer needs to answer. Rich or poor. Whether you'll need Social Security to make ends meet or whether you intend to use it to fund an investment program for yourself or, say, your grandkids' education. Or anything else in between. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is complicated. The accumulation phase …
Continue reading “When Should I File for Social Security Benefits?”
After you reach age 70½, you must start withdrawing money from your account. Here's what you need to know. It’s the time of year when I start receiving questions about required minimum distributions from IRAs and other retirement-savings plans. Generally, you must take distributions every year after you reach age 70½. Here are some of …
With the economy in the doldrums and the long-term outlook for the US stock market looking more restrained than it has in the recent past, parents and grandparents are asking my advice about the problems associated with paying for their children’s college education. Fueled by a sense of desperation brought on by skyrocketing college costs, …
This post has to do with Global Economics and our financial future. That’s both YOURS and MINE. It deals with an interview done by a Kate Welling talking with Paul McCulley, the recently retired director of PIMCO. You may have heard of PIMCO. It is a global investment solution provider, headquartered in Newport Beach, CA. …
Continue reading Greatest Moral Hazard, Says Paul McCulley, Is Austerity Here And Now
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 …
Concluding our short series on trusts, here are what you might think of as “niche” trusts. You don’t see them very often but if you have a need to solve, these might give you some food for thought. Specific Purpose Trusts There are some trusts created for specific purposes rather than for the benefit of …
Helping Define Your Financial Future 