Neither Rationale for Social Security is Working
Social Security has been called the third rail of politics. Good thing I’m not a politician. Someone has to make the tough decisions.
Social Security has been called the third rail of politics. Good thing I’m not a politician. Someone has to make the tough decisions.
If the GAO were giving you investment advice they would suggest that you not participate in your 401(k) and convert at least half of your retirement savings into an annuity laden with fees and expenses.
Given the dangers of worldwide sovereign debt, this may be one time when investors should continue to tilt foreign and toward specific countries.
Most financial planners have a difficult time helping clients reduce their spending habits and start saving.
Calling this a “Tea Party downgrade” might be true in one sense. There weren’t enough members of the Tea Party to overcome the stubbornness of those refusing to make real spending cuts.
“One of the jobs of a financial adviser is to keep people from doing things that feel like the emotionally right thing to do but statistically are the wrong thing to do.”
On the same day that the S&P 500 plunged 6.7% in reaction to the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of US sovereign debt, Bloomberg is reporting on two different headlines stating that Warren Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, is on a buying spree.
On volatile days like yesterday, I always recommend looking at longer term movements.
I was asked to speak at the Leadership Development Center at the University of Virginia’s EAN Annual Conference on Thursday, August 4th 2001. I’ve collected links to all the resources I mentioned in that talk here in one place.
In a recent Vanguard commentary entitled, “Despite gloomy news, some trends back economic improvement”, Mr. Aliaga-Diaz writes that there are many factors pointing to a long term economic recovery.
Federal revenue has been relatively constant while federal spending has grown out of control.
Money worries are harming marriages and impairing health, according to a quarter of 1,400 married individuals polled online recently by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
Even in our gone-fishing portfolios we suggest investing more overseas than in the United States. For most investors, foreign stocks will be their largest and most important allocation. Including the right mix of foreign stocks will help you relax and go fishing no matter which foreign seas are in turmoil.
On Jun 21, 2011, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss which countries to avoid investing in, or to underweight, due to high debt and deficit and low economic freedom.
David Marotta discusses avoiding countries with high debt and deficit.
Americans seem to be divided on the importance of raising the U.S. debt ceiling. Regardless of your personal politics, avoid investing in countries that cavalierly allow their debt and deficit to balloon.
If the American family hopes to emerge from this debt crisis, the American people must recover the productive zeal that fueled our country’s growth in the past.
Finding countries where you can plant your investments in fertile soil may be one of the most important asset allocation decisions you make for the next several years.
Couples who have worked together on a budget already agree on the big picture. Once they make the hard decisions about what will help further the family’s values, specific purchases in each category are much less critical.
All developed countries are not equally attractive places to invest. The United States has entered the ring of fire and expected to underperform in future years as a result.
Computing your net worth annually is like taking a sextant reading to chart your course toward financial security. Net worth gives you a snapshot of how much money would be left if you converted everything you owned into cash and paid off all your debts.
Financial resolutions usually don’t even last until the end of January. Making a permanent change in our behavior requires both time and a steely resolve. We can only develop financial character one action at a time. Here are seven practices to take you from pauper to prince or princess if you add one each year.
Students are graduating with larger debt loads than they were 10 years ago. Public four-year college borrowers graduate with an average of $19,800 in debt; their nonprofit private college counterparts graduate owing $26,100.
Politicians are giving us no incentive to take care of ourselves. They are ensuring that government will need to save us.
Perhaps dire predictions are correct and we are headed to Armageddon. If you want liquid assets in such a catastrophic situation, try buying cases of Jack Daniels. It is cheaper, keeps just as well and will fetch more in trading value.
Everything in wealth management begins with savings. All wealth comes from producing more than you consume. Unfortunately, most Americans are better at consuming than producing.
For the first time in the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, the United States was moved from the list of “free” countries to the second tier of “mostly free” countries.
Many U.S. investors crowd their assets into a combination of large-cap U.S. stocks and U.S. bonds. This allocation represents only one and a half of the six asset classes described here.
“Imagine that you visit your doctor, who tells you that you have only 5-10 years to live. You won’t ever feel sick, but you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining? Will you change your life and how will you do it?”
A few months ago Bill Gross, co-founder of PIMCO and the country’s most prominent bond expert, singled out those countries heaping significant deficits on their mountain of debt and called them “The Ring of Fire.” We recommend that you reduce your investments in these countries.
In just three short years we’ve added more to the deficit as a percentage of GDP than in the three decades before.
In 1977 economist Milton Friedman wrote an article “The Line We Dare Not Cross: The Fragility of Freedom at ‘60%.'” We are in danger of crossing that line.
Many budgets are doomed to failure because of the challenge of planning for unplanned spending. Here are some of the items you either did not put in your budget or they shouldn’t be in your spending.
Every year problems of debt and overspending frustrate millions of families. The problem has little to do with income, a lot to do with spending. Spending less than you earn is the essential foundation that creates the capital for investing and wealth building.
No matter how rich or poor you are, thrift is an integral part of your budget. Being thrifty is a godly and biblical virtue.
You are guarding against deadweight loss when the recipient can exchange the gift or return it for cash.
Just remove the decimal place. The $8.50 lunch you charge will cost you $850 in your retirement.
Some doctors start the year $250,000 in debt.
Half of the country are political Vikings who pay their taxes by raiding and pillaging the productive.
A country can’t prosper destroying perfectly good used cars.
Diversifying your asset allocation among investments with a low correlation can and should reduce your portfolio’s volatility and boost your returns. But critics are claiming this strategy is no longer valid. That’s because they don’t understand the nature of what happened in 2008.
Mortgage rates are at historical lows, so the next few years are the time to take advantage of them.
The various congressional bailouts have been touted as essential to the nation’s economic security. So long as the notion of economic security remains vague and abstract, it has wide support. But anyone who examines the details should realize this so-called security threatens our freedom and stability.
Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. But for too many of us, it’s the season that unravels the careful financial planning of the previous 11 months. So this year, instead of trading your financial goals for a mountain of gifts and debt, take a moment to contemplate how a spiritual perspective can help you put your wealth in perspective.
Philip Zimbardo’s latest book, “The Time Paradox” suggests that understanding your own time perspective may help you unlock the secrets of financial freedom. In other words, how we think determines who we are and what we do.
There is always a day of reckoning when people use debt to leverage their investments.
How you “title” the property you own is a lot more important than you might think. Failure to title your assets properly could undo the best will and trust planning that money can buy.
This year, give your family the gift of financial peace of mind. Celebrate the season simply.
All this toil to maintain an average benefit of about $12,000 a year!
When a hurricane threatens, making a plan and gearing up for emergencies is imperative. Economic emergencies happen too, but it may be less obvious how to prepare. Here are seven steps you should take to weather any financial storm.