Sharp Practices Can Hurt Your Returns
I’d like to share with you a quick primer on fraud. You can engage in fraud by intentionally misrepresenting a “material fact,” knowing it is false and that the person to whom it is made will rely on it. If...
How to Master Your Finances
Paul Lem, a medical doctor, scientist and entrepreneur wrote an extraordinary book, “Master Life Faster: How To Be Happy, Healthy, Wealthy, Smart and Social” in 2008. I met Dr. Lem during a recent speaking tour for my own book in Ottawa, Ontario,...
Avoid Supporting Your Fund Manager’s Lavish Lifestyle
Some things never change. In 1940, Fred Schwed wrote a humorous book called, “Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?” It was about the dichotomy between the lavish lifestyle of those who manage money and the far less glamorous struggles of those whose...
4 Alternatives to Reverse Mortgages
You may be all too familiar with commercials featuring folksy celebrities explaining how everyone tells him that reverse mortgages sound “too good to be true,” but there isn’t a catch this time. You can have the best of both worlds:...
Investors Should Look Out for Conflicts of Interest
In his new book, “Negotiating Your Investments,” Steven G. Blum discusses some of the traps investors confront when they seek financial advice. This book contains a wealth of helpful information, but I am going to focus on two areas of...
4 Tax Tips Your Accountant Will Never Tell You
I have a high regard for accountants. They have an extremely difficult job. In order to maximize tax savings for their clients, they need to understand and interpret an incredibly complicated Internal Revenue Code. Former U.S. congressman John Hostettler once said, “The...
How to Avoid Getting Ripped Off By ETFs
Exchange-traded funds are open-ended funds that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange. You can think of them as a hybrid version of both stocks and index funds. You buy them using a broker, just like you would...
How The Supreme Court Could Stop the 401(k) Rip-off
The Supreme Court of the United States has indicated an interest in deciding an important 401(k) case, Tibble v. Edison International. If the Supreme Court decides to hear the Tibble case, and if it decides it in a manner that...
The Secret Ingredient to a Happy Retirement: Patience
Many great discoveries come about by accident, like the discovery of the anti-malarial drug quinine, the smallpox vaccination, X-rays and insulin. Here’s a discovery that relates to retirement: the unexpected importance of marshmallows in explaining the difficulty of delaying gratification....
How to Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Your 401(k) Plan
Approximately 51 million Americans have invested an estimated $3.5 trillion in 401(k) plans, according to the Investment Company Institute. If you’re one of them, you’re probably being ripped off, big time. How? Your plan likely includes a dizzying array of investment choices....
