Public and Private Morality

My Thoughts: I read this morning that there are now about 16 candidates from the right whose names are more or less officially in play for the Presidency in 2016. One of the defining characteristics of most of them is their focus on morality, theirs, mine and ours. After reading these comments from Robert Reich, …

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Death Is Not a Treatment Failure

My Comments: Many years ago a physician friend and fellow golfer told me that when you go to a doctor for a routine physical, it’s his or her job to find something wrong with you. If you don’t want to find that something IS wrong with you, then don’t go. But as the years pass …

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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK – April 23, 2015

There is a positive correlation between the age of the advisor and the age of the client. I have few clients who are millenianals, but many who are roughly my age. And while I spend a lot of time helping them massage their retirement portfolios, one of the issues that surfaces frequently are the taxes …

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Rioting In The Streets Of Gainesville?

My Comments: The blog post title above comes from me; the one that actually accompanied the article is Public Pensions Face New Challenges As We Live Longer. Huh? As a financial planner, I try to make people aware of the existential threats we face as we all grow older. These threats are things that “might” …

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Dear Future Me: Please Listen!

My Comments: There's a pharase about not letting the closing door hit you on the ass as you leave the room. It's also a metaphor for life. April 6, 2015 By Bob Seawright Bob Dylan hit on a universal truth when he sang about his son and the attraction of remaining young. May your hands …

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Retiree Health Costs And Employee Ignorance

My Comments: This article appeared recently in a weekly summary of articles designed for advisors whose clients are typically small businesses. At this point you need to ask for a definition of “small business”. It depends. About 30 years ago I qualified to attend an insurance conference. I was roomed with a fellow advisor from …

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This Too Shall Pass

My Comments: The daily grind of figuring out if you are going to make or lose money today can become tiresome. It’s the primary reason most of us turn the responsibility over to others. We tend to hope we made a good decision and leave it alone. It’s one reason I never subscribed to the …

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A Major Surge in Atmospheric Warming Is Probably Coming in the Next Five Years

My Comments: I claim no technical expertise regarding meteorological events. But I do get alarmed when certain people get put in critical decision making roles who have less expertise than I do. People like the Senator from Oklahoma who is now the leading advocate in the US Congress regarding what to do about climate change. …

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A Stand-in For The Fiduciary Standard?

My Comments: I apologize for continuing to push this issue. But as a fiduciary, I’m bound to give advice that results in what is best for the client, legally, morally and ethically. That Wall Street firms resist this is not in your best interest. Meanwhile, I received an angry call this week from a group …

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When Underperforming the S&P 500 Is a Good Thing

My Comments: I’ve spent time recently with clients talking about our mutual frustration with the performance of their investment portfolios over the past 18 months. They want their accounts to grow aggressively and I want them to grow aggressively, if for no other reason than it makes me look smart. We can argue that the …

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