Some investing lessons from Julius Caesar

Waking up this morning to see my name on Michael Johnston’s 50 Best Investing Insights of 2015 was a pleasant surprise. Seeing my name with my colleagues, Josh, Barry, Mike, Ben and Kris is quite flattering. The rest of the list Bill McBride, Cullen Roche, James Osborne, Jason Zweig, Morgan Housel, etc., speaks for itself. Especially when I thought…

Only the Paranoid Teachers Survive

Friends do not sell friends overpriced investment products or expensive insurance that they do not need. Unfortunately, too many teachers equate “nice guys” with being a good financial advisor. Using this as the sole criteria for choosing someone to manage your finances is a recipe for disaster. After reviewing dozens of horrendously expensive, ill-constructed, and…

Breaking Tax News for Teachers

“This highly popular write-off allows millions of K-12 teachers, and others who qualify, to deduct as much as $250 of unreimbursed expenses for classroom supplies. The law expands the provision to include professional-development costs and indexes it for inflation.”- The Wall Street Journal 12/18/15 Teachers just received a welcome holiday surprise. They will now be…

Gate Keepers from Hell

The investment options contained in most 403(b) plans, in the words of the French, are ‘garbage’. The majority are chosen by conflicted Compliance Third Party Administrators (CTPAs) who are paid by the vendors or, incredibly, even owned by them! Pseudo “preferred provider lists” are created and teachers become cannon fodder for greedy, large insurance companies…

Annuities of Mass Destruction

Unlike the evasive WMD’s that were never found in the Iraqi desert, expensive and inappropriate annuities are all the rage in many teachers retirement plans. This practice must be stopped before the retirement dreams of many educators are blown to smithereens. William Bernstein, one of the sharpest minds in the investment world once stated,…

When Business Dares to Get Personal

It is often said that business and personal matters need to be compartmentalized with a solid barrier between the two. When it comes to meaningful financial planning, nothing could be further from the truth. I should know, that is how I ended up in this business, when I had little interest about finance at all….

Revenge of the Teachers

My name is Tony Isola. My message is crystal clear. I am sick and tired of seeing teachers being ripped off in their retirement plans. I have reached my breaking point. This ends today. Right now! This travesty has largely been ignored by the financial media and grossly under-served by the adviser community Our mission…