A Few Dollars More

My regular readers know how much I despise 12b-1 fees. Those are the fees that mutual fund companies kickback to your broker or investment advisor for putting you into their funds. You never see the charge in your statements but it can be as much as one percent annually if you own a certain class [...]

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The next time you run out of ideas for that perfect gift, save this column. I am about to give you over 200 one of a kind gift ideas that will cost you only as much as you want to spend and at the same time make anyone happy. Global Giving beats the heck out [...]

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Given the volatility of the stock market over the last few weeks, it is no surprise that annuity and life insurance salesmen, brokers and financial advisors are once again touting the wonderful benefits of fixed and variable annuities. Don’t get sucked into their sales pitch because the facts are that annuities only make sense for [...]

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Every day is Earth Day as far as the government is concerned, at least when it comes to converting America’s homesteads to green power. Energy efficiency makes sense from a bottom line point of view, whether you are a millionaire or just one of us working stiffs. Here’s why.

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In the financial services industry, most people don’t know the difference between a stock broker, insurance salesman, financial planner, advisor, consultant or wealth manager. That’s not an accident. Wall Street has spent a great deal of money and time confusing you on purpose. I believe in this age of confusion, misinformation and desire for honesty, [...]

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This year the tax laws are changing. If you have a Traditional IRA, Roll-Over IRA or another tax deferred plan like a 401 (K), 403 (b) or 457 (b) you can now convert to a Roth IRA, regardless of income level. Better yet, the government is giving you an added incentive to convert by allowing [...]

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Congratulations, as of this year, women officially control the majority of privately-owned financial assets in this country. Not only is that wealth an awesome responsibility, but it also presents women, especially Baby Boomers aged 45 and over, with an enormous opportunity. Here’s how you can prepare.

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This year women, especially, women in their fifties and up, will control the lion’s share of America’s privately-owned wealth. That should be good news to most boomer women, but good news is sometimes deceiving.

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New Year resolutions, I suspect, will be quite popular this year, especially in the financial and investment areas. Given the horrible losses most of us sustained last year in our retirement accounts, followed by a pink slip at work for over 10% of us, makes for a bit of soul-searching as 2009 comes to a [...]

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Over the last two years trillions have been spent to aid and assist Wall Street’s wealthiest bankers, Detroit’s blue collar auto workers, owners of gas-guzzling clunkers, first-time home buyers, thousands of Americans facing foreclosures and maybe another dozen or so programs, that we, the long-suffering, silent majority, will have to pay for. Yesterday, however, Washington [...]

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