Whole life insurance policies are not suitable for the majority of the population. Due to the enormous conflict of interests in the insurance world, the worst policies pay the agents the highest commissions; heads you lose, tails they win. The worst part of this policy is this damning fact: 80% of the individuals who purchase this…
Don’t Be An Elitist Investor
Acting like a snob will not make you many friends. It will also cost you a lot of money. Many people are familiar with Warren Buffett’s 2007 $500,000 bet that any combination of hedge funds would not outperform the S&P 500 Index over the next 10 years. Though investors have paid the enormous fee of 2%…
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….
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