Why China Doesn’t Need The U.S. For Trade

My Comments: China First! Are you OK with China leading the world through the 21st Century? While I have issues with the politics of Steve Forbes, I have no issues with the credibility of Forbes Magazine, who published this article by Winter Nie. Now that Trump has ceded global economic leadership to China, it’s important …

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Putting Clients Second

My Comments: Readers of my posts have seen me comment before on the proposed Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule that is scheduled to be implemented this coming April. It’s directed toward anyone providing investment advice related to retirement accounts (with one major exception!). The rule says that anyone providing such advice must adhere to a …

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6 Steps to Retire When You Want

My Comments: For some, retirement will be bliss. For others, not so much. WHEN you retire, and HOW you retire, will have a lot to do with WHAT will happen. Jane Bennett Clark, Senior Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Feb 2017 For some, the idea of retiring early is a dream nurtured over decades. For others, …

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Opinion: This Market Bubble is About to Burst

My Comments: Yesterday, I decided it was time to think about moving my clients out of cash and back into the markets. At least with some of their money. Now, once again, I’m not so sure. If you are retired, or about to be retired, and have the ability to control the investments made inside …

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How to Have a Comfortable Retirement on Social Security Alone

My Comments: Some of the folks who attend my workshops on SS benefits planning reveal that they have virtually no other resources to fund their retirement. That’s a challenge, especially for those whose lives were spent in physical labor of some kind and simply can’t continue working that way. There is real pain in their …

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Investment Strategies for Your Retirement Accounts

My Comments: A phrase I’m known to use from time to time is that ‘life in this country is better with more money than it is with less money.” While this might seem too obvious for you, there are many people whose efforts to have more money have fallen flat. Here’s a few ideas that …

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The Biggest Losers in Trump’s Potential Trade War

My Comments: It’s been hard to tell if the mistakes coming out of the White House are simply the result of the learning curve necessary to be competent or whether it’s the result of overt incompetence. But I do think it’s increasingly clear that Donald Trump is in over his head. The person most likely …

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Our life in three stages – school, work, retirement – will not survive much longer

My Comments: We are now starting a periodic review of the basic assumptions about how our lives should be governed, and a review of the fundamental values that define our society. It’s probably overdue, and while I disagree with the tactics so far used to push the doors open to let in a different light, …

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Trade Is Not the Driver of Major Job Loss

My Comments: This chart shows the decline, in relative terms, of the number of people who define the US labor force over the past 30 years. Without population growth, it's very hard to maintain economic strength. So I find myself strangely untroubled by President Bannon, the avowed Leninist now more or less running the White …

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3 Medicare Myths – Debunked!

My Comments: Today is Tuesday and I normally post something about Social Security. But health issues in retirement are a major concern for many of us. So paying for timely and necessary medical help becomes another critical issue. While it might be necessary to tweak the system from time to time, the headlines coming out …

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