Let me start with a confession: I hate variable annuities. Hate is a strong word, so let me rephrase: I despise them with an unholy passion. To be fair, not all annuity reps are snake oil salesmen, and there can be specific situations where an annuity might make sense for a given investor. But by...Read More

It’s hard to save money when you’re young. If you’re lucky enough to have a job, you’re probably not flush with cash. With a glut of young and talented job seekers, companies have little pressure to offer generous starting salaries. Meanwhile, apartment rents have steadily risen for 23 straight quarters, and life’s other inevitable expenses—utilities,...Read More

I discussed the concept of retirement and how it has changed in recent decades in an interview with NewRetirement.  Here are some excerpts: Today, Americans look at retirement as an entitlement – a reward for a lifetime of hard work – but that wasn’t always the case, says CFA Charles Lewis Sizemore, principal of Sizemore...Read More

Here’s a novel idea: Advisors might actually need to earn their advisory fees in the years ahead.  With the arrival of online financial planning sites like Mint.com and robo-advisors like Covestor, which allow an investor to mimic the trades of a portfolio manager, a real in-the-flesh advisor has to offer something more than generic, packaged...Read More

I originally penned this for an update to Macro Trend Investor in April 2014, but the points are as relevant today as they were when I wrote it.  This brings me to a topic that I get asked about regularly: choosing the right broker. With so many low-cost online brokers offering such a wide array...Read More