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. …

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Here’s What the Next Recession Could Look Like

My Comments: There is no doubt that both politicians and financial people generate success by evoking fear in those to whom they are talking. Sometimes it’s legitimate, but much of the time its BS designed to persuade you to part with your vote and/or your money. What follows here is consistent with my belief that …

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A Groundwater Crisis?

My Comments: Jeb Bush may call me intellectually arrogant, and others will think I’m a kook. However, I think anyone hoping to join the elite fraternity of global thought leaders needs to take this very seriously. Imagine the California drought on a global scale. Most of us have little ability to change and survive if …

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Flawed Math on Student Loans

My Comments: The staggering level of student loan debt has the potential to sink the economic future of this country. Young families with the debt hanging over them will be less likely to buy a house, to buy a new car, to spend money on consumption items, all of which means economic stagnation. Income earned …

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Republicans Dismiss Latino Concerns At Their Peril

My Comments: I’ve talked before about immigration issues. As an immigrant myself, I’m perhaps more sensitive to these issues, even though I arrived as a child from Europe. My father was looking for a better way to provide for his family and since he had lived here as a child and had a degree from …

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US Should Not Negotiate Free Trade Behind Closed Doors

My Comments: Recently I was reminded that I appear to have strong opinions. This is usually accompanied by a rolling of the eyes, and to which I now hang my head, but without shame. On this topic, I’ve not had an opinion worth talking about until now. I hate it when people bitch and moan …

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Exposing The Dark Side of Personal Finance

My Comments: In keeping with the prevailing assumption that anything you see on TV or read on the internet is gospel, financial planners are constantly trying to undo the “lessons” taught by certain celebreties who are more interested in selling books than they are in providing good information. Whenever I’ve attended regional meetings with hundreds …

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America Could Have Been One Giant Sweden — Instead It Looks a Lot Like the Soviet Union

My Comments: This is a long, uncomfortable article that predicts how the world might evolve economically and politically over the next several decades. My generation will have passed on soon, but regardless of your political stripes today, it will be different. If you want to take back America, or at least preserve what we have, …

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Like It Or Not, All Advisors Are Now Fiduciaries

My Comments: In my capacity as a financial planner and investment advisor, I’ve long embraced a fiduciary standard. This means I’m bound morally, ethically and legally to do what, in my professional opinion, is in my client’s best interests. Corporate financial America (Wall Street in general, the insurance industry, money managers, et al) and their …

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The End of Florida?

My Comments: I have just two. One is that Florida has about 1350 miles of coastline and that does not include rivers that are somewhat tidal. Two is that if God is all seeing and all knowing, how come he’s only telling some of us to be aware of what’s coming and to properly prepare …

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