Break the chains of financial slavery

Those of us old enough can recall Charlton Heston in the famous scene from the film Ben-Hur in which he is chained to a slave boat. As he is being whipped to keep time with the pulsating drumbeat , the boat is rammed and begins to sink with all the unfortunates going down with it….

The Storm that won’t run out of Rain

There is an old saying, “Every storm runs out of rain.” This means things will eventually  get better and, most of the time, it is the wise choice to continue following a well thought out, diversified financial plan even when it seems all is lost. Unfortunately, there are many in the financial industry who will prey…

403Beware

  Why do so many teachers have either high cost actively managed funds or even higher cost annuities in their 403b retirement plans??  First of all many teachers believe they must place an annuity in their plan because this investment vehicle is often called a tax deferred annuity. This is done to mislead and misinform teachers into believing they can…

With Friends like these…

Did you ever notice that just about every insurance salesman or stock broker seems like a “pretty nice guy”?  They are always smiling, paying superficial compliments about your new hair-do or providing canned laughter to your own inane comments. Don’t let those suspenders or ill-fitting suits fool you. They are trained to be predators and…

A Failed Business Model

  The average brokerage firm is a well calibrated machine not unlike the infamous Terminator character who will NEVER stop. Their mission is to exploit the greed and fear of the average investor. They will pitch the hot product right before the bubble explodes, and sell umbrellas after the Hurricane is long gone. They are…