Anthony Isola

No Victims in the Classroom

“Hey, listen. Nobody’s forcing you to be here. You have a choice. You can stay or you can leave… It may not be a choice you like, but it is a choice. There are no VICTIMS in this classroom!”  —  LouAnne (as played by Michelle Pfeiffer, Dangerous Minds) Dina here… Often when Tony and I speak with teachers regarding their…

The Destroyer of Worlds

1949 was a very bad year. “At a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name “First Lightning.” In order to measure the effects of the blast, the Soviet scientists constructed buildings, bridges, and other civilian structures in the vicinity of the bomb. They also placed…

Screw the Gander!

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander? “Main Street over Wall Street” needs to be replaced with” Hypocrisy without limits!” First came the delay and possible dismemberment of the fiduciary rule. Part two is to scrap the idea of individual states providing retirement plans for uncovered workers. According to The Wall Street…

The Only Requirement Is “Are You Alive?”

“When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.” ― A.W. Tozer Do substitute teachers hold a solution for our nation’s curse of financial illiteracy? For many, the recollection of having a substitute teacher resembles something like this: The VCR cart being rolled into the classroom. The horrible mispronunciation of names. Student pranks on…

The 5 Most Insane Quotes Against the Fiduciary Rule

The opinions found on social media can be a dark jungle of misinformation and lies. This is not a surprise, based on the following facts: A large number of people do not know The Affordable Care Act and Obama Care are the same thing. One in six believe it would be “very good” for the…

Are Expensive Universities Worth The Price?

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” – Warren Buffett High-cost, prestigious universities may be a waste of money. There is one caveat. You better like math and science! The Wall Street Journal published a fascinating article that highlighted some interesting observations. Eric Eide and Michael Hilmer point out: “Diplomas from prestigious schools boost…

Lobbyists Lie; Investors’ Retirement Accounts Die

The misinformation spread by lobbyist groups in order to derail the fiduciary rule would make “Baghdad Bob” proud. Just like Saddam Hussein’s delusional director of communications, they have cornered the market on fake news. Organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the American Council of Life Insurers, among others, have…

Show me the Money!

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”  – Malcolm X Our divided nation is filled with many people who justifiably believe tomorrow will be worse than today.  They vented their anger in the voting booth.  They went all in for massive change. We will have…

Where the Hindenburg Meets the Titanic

“Consumers are not equipped to make these choices. Information asymmetry has been used as a weapon against them for decades.” Josh Brown Some large insurers have created the nitroglycerin of investment products – The Buffer Annuity. This monstrosity of complexity is a variable annuity that does not use mutual funds in its sub-account. Instead it places…

The Meryl Streep Of Financial Salespeople

Imitation is supposed to be the highest form of flattery. This is not the case when your supposed “financial advisor” decides to imitate you! It is an established fact that financial salespeople selling high-fee variable annuities do not act in their clients best interests. They often walk on the wrong side of morality in order…