How to Use a Teacher’s Lesson Plan to manage your Money

Without discipline, structure, and clearly defined goals, a middle school class will descend into chaos and anarchy. The same can be said for your financial plan. Being a former middle school teacher and a current fee-only financial advisor, I have a unique perspective on these matters. Establishing routine is essential to managing a classroom. If…

MetLife Does the Ol’ Bait and Switch with its Annuities

Variable annuities bring out the worst in the financial industry. They provide the perfect product to sell to an anxious public. The promise of safety and income guarantees often conceal a dark side of egregious fees and perverse incentives. Yesterday, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) shed some light on these unsavory practices. MetLife, the large…

Capitalists Invest in Human Ingenuity, Not Gold

The Scientific Revolution changed everything. After the year 1500, progress became a word that dominated the conversation. Trust in the people and ideas suddenly became cool. The foreign concept that the future would be better than the present began to take hold. Before science and the admission of ignorance became commonplace, business resembled a zero-sum…

Did Your Financial Advisor Find His Job on Craigslist?

Too many advisors are trained to sell, not plan. Inexperienced college graduates and other unqualified individuals are often used by insurance companies as a form of asset-gathering cannon fodder. Multitudes of salespeople are sent out on this mission; few strike it rich.  Some insurers believe if you throw enough sales pitches against the wall, a portion of retirement…

Those Who Have the Gold Should Not Make the Rules

Treat clients the way you would like to be treated; this is pretty simple to understand. No need for legions of lawyers, thousand page documents, or best interest contract exemption clauses. Unfortunately, in the world of investment advice whoever has the gold makes the rules. This could not be more opposite from The Golden Rule.  It…

How Do You Break A Bad Investing Habit?

  Bad habits are very difficult to break. Smoking, overeating, and watching too much Vanderpump Rules are routines we need to rupture. Lord knows I spend way too much time following Jax, Lala, and the rest of the breathtakingly imbecilic, but strangely fascinating, SUR crew. Bad investing habits are the norm, not the exception. They include panicking…

An Army Of Darkness Dominates The Annuity Market

Annuities are often sold by inexperienced salespeople, supervised by conflicted branch managers. This deadly combination is poisoning the investment well for far too many investors. Last week’s announcement of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule was a win for investors. Unfortunately, there is a gaping hole in this legislation that a zombie herd from the Walking…

The “Rosemary’s Baby” of Investment Products

Talk about an investment where the glass is always half empty! Indexed annuity products are the eternal pessimists.  The fact that they do not include dividends in their return calculations pretty much guarantees they will miss about half of the markets historic gains over time. In a not so shocking turn of events, these products are…

Act As If What You Do Makes A Difference. It Does.

On the eve of the implementation of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, there is a smell of danger combined with real change in the air.  You are not really paying attention if you do not get the sense that this time it just might be different. More finance types are looking at themselves and not liking what…