March 2017

How to Create Your Own Equity-Indexed Annuity

“If you can’t explain it to a 6-year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” Albert Einstein The majority of people who purchase equity-indexed annuities have no idea they could accomplish their goals in a much cheaper, simpler way. Equity-indexed annuities are sold with the promise of nirvana for investors; i.e., some or all of “market returns” without the…

Steve Bannon’s Scary “Economics Of Revenge”

“You may make mistakes but you are not a failure until you start blaming someone else”  – Mary Pickford All of us may pay a steep price for the awful investment decisions of Steve Bannon’s father. During the height of the 2008 financial panic, Marty Bannon sold his large concentrated position of AT&T stock at…

An Annuity that Could only be Sold by Satan

“Are there any ‘Last Minute Cowboys’ who can saddle up and ride?” An IPI Senior Regional Director (AKA Douchebag) Improper annuity sales by sleaze bag brokers are not exactly current events. This case sticks out for its sheer evil. A company called IPI financial made an unholy alliance with a group of community banks. According…

Financial Evolution to Revolution

“If you want to launch a revolution, don’t ask yourself, ‘How many people support my ideas?’ Instead ask, ‘How many of my supporters are capable of effective collaboration?’”– Yuval Noah Harari Individual investors need to galvanize behind the right type of leaders if they intend to overthrow the current conflicted financial services industry. The Russian Revolution…

Some Insane Things People Believe About Retirement

Delusional is an excellent word to describe the average American’s thoughts on the requirements for a successful retirement. Fidelity Investments decided to tackle this problem with a short but in-depth survey based on retirement assumptions people make. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most Americans missed these eight key retirement questions — and some were way, way off. The…

Tsu-money Crushes Investor Protections

“Washington is like a strip club. You’ve got people tossing dollars, and people doing the dance.” – Mike Huckabee    A tidal wave of money is crashing down on individual investors, crushing their protections against financial salespeople. The results are seen in the rollback of key regulations designed to protect the interests of common folk. We…

Conflicted Salespeople Are Ruining a Great Tax Shelter

Here is my latest story for my friends Scott and Dan over at 403bwise. Teachers have some amazing ways to save on their taxes. Unfortunately, their biggest tax shelter, their 403(b) plan, is often riddled with high-cost products sold by conflicted financial salespeople. Imagine a world where teachers could lower their taxes and also have an awesome…

403(b) Plans: The Best Option is often Avoidance

“It’s a sad state of affairs when workplace retirement plans are so compromised that the best move is to avoid them.” – Ron Lieber The state of public school teachers’ 403(b) retirement plans is getting worse. This is despite the critically acclaimed five-part N.Y. Times Public Sacrifice series that exposed the sordid world of teachers’ retirement plans….

The Case for Tragic Optimism

“The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her own life.” – Viktor E. Frankl What gives life real meaning? According to Viktor Frankl there are three possible answers: Creating a work or doing a deed. Experiencing or encountering something. This can be found not only in work, but in…

From Russia, With Love

“You know, Mr. Kennedy, we voted for you.”- Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev The 2016 election may not have been the only U.S. election the Russians may have influenced. It turns out the 1960 nail-biter between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy may have been the scene of some Russian hacking. You could not find two more polar…