Blog
- Annuity IRAs…a bad deal
-
Philosopher George Berkeley famously suggested that, “Truth is the cry of all, but the game of the few.” I suspect he was on to something or he wouldn’t have had a college and a town named after him. I think of this timeless quote whenever I see an annuity contract lurking within an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
- Is your broker double-dipping?
-
Once upon a time the commission rates charged to investors for securities trades were fixed by regulation. On May 1st of 1975, however, commission rates were deregulated and the competitive juices within the brokerage industry began to flow.
- Own bonds? Understand “duration.”
-
Novice investors typically perceive risk in fairly nebulous terms such as the possibility of losing money. However, professional investors tend to evaluate risk in terms of a variety of specific risk elements.
- Investment income: Don’t be short-sighted…
-
When choosing among investment alternatives where income is a primary consideration, conventional choices often include money market instruments.
- Cash-value life insurance: Policy loans – not such a good deal…
-
A number of dubious marketing claims swirl around cash value life insurance (CVLI) which includes most any type of life insurance that has an investment component.
- The emotional appeal of cash-value life insurance
-
While auto, health, disability, and most other forms of insurance are structured so their premiums are due on a pay-as-you-go basis, the life insurance industry has evolved somewhat differently.
- The ABCs of Mutual Fund Fees
-
If you own any mutual funds you may have noticed that some funds have an innocuous letter such as an A, B, or C appended to the end of their name while certain other funds sport names that are free of such suffixes. If you purchase fund shares directly from the fund itself rather than through a salesperson, you neatly sidestep any commissions that might otherwise apply.
- The Myth of Buying Life Insurance Young
-
A number of dubious marketing efforts swirl around cash value life insurance (CVLI) which includes most any type of life insurance that doubles as an investment. I previously addressed the fact that CVLI is often marketed as being permanent in nature despite the fact that the insurance component associated with most CVLI policies tends to decline or even vanish over time and that many people have no need for permanent insurance in the first place.
- The Myth of Permanent Life Insurance
-
A number of dubious marketing claims swirl around cash value life insurance (CVLI) which includes most any type of life insurance that doubles as an investment. One particularly specious claim is that CVLI is somehow permanent in nature versus term insurance which is temporary. This claim is insidious on a couple of counts.