My Comments: A recent report that airlines may be colluding on price is but one example of corporate excess that pervades our system. It’s not yet systemic, but given the opportunity, corporate America will take steps to advance its own cause at our expense. After 40 years as a financial planner, I’m sensitive to questionable …
Tag: retirement advisor
THE FOUR ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL BEAR MARKETS
My Comments: This article comes from January, 2009 and was written by Nick Murray. Two months later, the bear market that started in mid 2008 was over, though it took some time to realize. Meanwhile, we’ve been in a bull market for over six years now, and many are suggesting we are overdue for a …
Continue reading THE FOUR ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL BEAR MARKETS
Insurers Backed Obamacare, Then Undermined It; Now They’re Profiting From It
My Comments: Remember those frantic days right after the PPACA was passed? How soon would we see death panels? Could Grandma survive? The world would end very soon. In my writings, I've argued there are five primary stakeholders in the health delivery system here in these United States. 1. Insurance companies; 2. pharmaceutical companies; 3. …
Continue reading Insurers Backed Obamacare, Then Undermined It; Now They’re Profiting From It
Connecting the Dots
My Comments: Interest rates change. For the past 35 years, they’ve been on a downward trend, matched only by the down trend from 1861 to 1898. It’s a given that the Fed is going to start moving them up, probably in September. A stream of positive data supports a September rate hike, but summer storms …
Bond Crash Across the World As Deflation Trade Goes Horribly Wrong
My Comments: You can call me an alarmist if you like, I really don’t care. We are long overdue for a market correction, from both a stock value perspective and interest rate perspective. If you don’t believe it’s coming, I have some nice real estate just east of Daytona Beach I can sell you for …
Continue reading Bond Crash Across the World As Deflation Trade Goes Horribly Wrong
The Obamacare Curse: What If, This Month, the Republicans Finally Get What They Want?
My Comments: After 6 years and counting, I’m still waiting for a valid, alternate idea to come from the political right. As an insurance agent for 40 years, and having sold individual and group policies for many of them, I understand many of the dynamics involved. Why is it not in our best interest as …
Why Poor People Vote for Republicans
My Comments: OK, that's too simplistic, but there is a point to be made here. Back in 2007, with the presidential election cycle in full swing, I recall seeing an old, bent and rusty pickup truck. In the front was mom, dad and 2 kids. The truck bed was full of odds and ends that …
Boondoggle U
Today is Memorial Day, a day to remember and honor those who have served our country. That so many came home wounded, and so many did not come home at all, more than justifies our reverence for their contributions to our society. Born in England in 1941, I also extend my thanks to my mother, …
“Utter insanity and stupidity.”
My Comments: I probably live in a bubble. I say this as much of what I allow to cross my desk daily already conforms to what I believe and therefore serves to confirm my present thinking. It happens to most of us; I had an exchange with someone the other day who tried to persuade …
A Bumper Sticker World
My Comments: A conversation last week with an attorney friend again revealed a world which is far more complicated today than seemed possible just a few short years ago. An expert in family law, he said tens of thousands of new laws have entered the books across these United States in the last three decades. …
Helping Define Your Financial Future 