My defensive investment strategy for 2012 is to deal with and reduce the market volatility. With the Euro-crisis coming to a head and continuing deadlock on a resolution of our own debt and deficit crisis, uncertainty and volatility will continue to reign in the year ahead. But then, when has there ever been certainty in [...]
Continue Reading →Don’t tell the 150 million smart phone users, but someone knows every move they make, literally. From their physical location to the exact key strokes they make on their phone, smart phone and credit card users are an open book to their phone carriers, their credit card companies and their banks. And short of tossing [...]
Continue Reading →It’s a sad commentary on human nature that there are so many ways that people can get ripped off these days. The worst part, is that many of the rip offs come in the form of legitimate businesses, products or opportunities that, while not illegal, border on immoral or unethical. There can’t be enough regulations [...]
Continue Reading →The fraud and rip-off brain trust is constantly evolving, innovating and striving to get into your wallet. The Internet is a virtual incubator of diabolical scams ready to be unleashed on a billion people all at once. But the real challenge facing consumers is that most of the scams and rip-offs they encounter are perpetrated [...]
Continue Reading →Ever since the introduction of variable life insurance in the 1950s, the debate over life insurance as an investment has raged on, and to this day, the issue remains largely unsettled. Life insurance advocates can make a case for its unique properties – tax deferred growth, tax free death benefit, low interest loan provisions, and [...]
Continue Reading →At 12:01a.m., on News Year Day 2011, we were all witness to a momentous event: The official start of the transition of history’s largest generation from Baby Boomers to Golden Boomers. It is estimated that from that point forward, 10,000 Baby Boomers will reach retirement age each and every day. So, why aren’t more of [...]
Continue Reading →It’s almost uncanny how this all works. The violence and debauchery of the misguided and self-indulgent Occupy movement has peaked just in time to draw all of the media attention away from the biggest problem both the 99% and the 1% face in the immediate future. Headlines of OWS miscreants terrorizing school children and throwing acid [...]
Continue Reading →For much of the last couple of years, most of us have paid little attention to the brewing financial problems of Europe, not because they weren’t that significant, but primarily because we have our own problems here at home. Although we are still neck deep in debt, deficit and recession worries, it’s becoming increasingly difficult [...]
Continue Reading →Among the myriad of new financial reform measures mandated by the Dodd-Frank bill two years ago was the creation of the Consumer Bureau of Financial Protection, a watchdog agency with the responsibility of ensuring that financial companies are following the law in their lending practices. Specifically, it is tasked with ensuring that all financial companies [...]
Continue Reading →One of the principal tenets of investing is that no one single investment is right for everyone. Every investment has certain characteristics, risks, and objectives that must match those of the investor, and annuities are no different. Although annuities have become more popular in light of the recent financial turmoil and the carnage it has left [...]
Continue Reading →The American public, already under heavy debt siege, has reached another dubious milestone this year with total debt from college loans crossing the $1 trillion mark. That’s a nearly 500% increase in just the last decade, a period that saw all consumer debt rise at a rate of 90%. According to government reports, the average [...]
Continue Reading →Is Congress insider trading taking place while Americans are trying to make ends meet? Within a two-week span, it was reported that the number of people in the U.S. living in poverty rose for the fourth year in row, climbing to the highest number in a half a century. On the heels of that grim [...]
Continue Reading →It’s not hard to imagine him standing on his rooftop in Queens, screaming at the top of his lungs to nobody in particular and to anyone who will listen. Like the scrawny little kid taunting the big bullies on the playground, far enough away so they can’t catch him, but near enough to annoy them, [...]
Continue Reading →Spread Holiday Cheer by Spreading Your Rewards Points Holiday shopping can’t come soon enough for retailers, in fact many haven’t been shy about mixing their Halloween and Christmas, although we think that may be a bit gauche. It would appear that they are preparing for what could be a very competitive shopping season as consumers [...]
Continue Reading →Just as the clamor over recent debit fee announcements by the major banks hit a crescendo, the banks sounded the retreat and have reversed their course and are now canceling or rethinking their plans. Score! We are victorious – say the OWS protesters. Huh? Are we to believe that the largest banks in the country, [...]
Continue Reading →Let’s Socialize!
Sponsored Links
