May 27, 2013 | Blog, Bonds, Investments, News, Retirement Planning
4 Key Questions to Protect Your Coupon Income If you, or anyone on your behalf, buys individual bonds in your account, know the markup game. A markup is when a broker-dealer buys a bond at a low price and resells it at a higher price. This difference, called the...
Mar 26, 2012 | Blog, Bonds, Economics & Markets, Retirement Planning, Wall Street Greed
Government spending and the Fed’s policy of buying more long-term bonds, never mind how they pay for it, has pushed the U.S. Treasury yields to lows not seen since the 1940’s. This is significant because your conservative, “safe” money like T-bills, Treasury Bonds...
Dec 28, 2011 | 401k, Blog, Estate Planning, Fiduciary, Financial Plan, Insurance, Investments, Long-Term Care, Retirement Planning, Self-Employed
For 2012, I’ve put together a checklist to help you take a deeper look at your financial picture, address a few important areas of financial planning, as well as provide you with some suggestions for the new year. The Basics ¨ Create a Financial Plan. By...
Sep 29, 2011 | 401k, Blog, Bonds, Economics & Markets, Fiduciary, Investments, Retirement Planning, Uncategorized, Wall Street Greed
LOBBYIST SHAFT US AGAIN First up, my most recent article for the Rockdale Weekly news titled “Beware Hidden Fees and Lower Standards Until Next Year” is about new 401k regulation to help improve transparency and accountability. Right after my article went to press,...
Jun 27, 2011 | 401k, Blog, Investments, Retirement Planning, Self-Employed
A new regulation from the Department of Labor providing much needed fee transparency and accountability for 401k participants was to go into effect on July 16th, 2011, has been delayed until January 2012. The regulation is Section 408(b)(2), and it’s all about fees,...
Aug 17, 2010 | Blog, Fiduciary, Retirement Planning, Uncategorized
I wrote an article back in November, 2009 titled “The F word you need to know” that discussed why a fiduciary standard was being hotly contested among policy makers and lobbyist as part of the Wall Street Reform Bill. A fiduciary is someone who puts your financial...