Year: 2011

I recently wrote about investment alternatives for retirees who are seeking higher income in today’s challenging investment environment. A younger reader wrote me with a question from his age group’s particular perspective:  “My question is what do you recommend for someone that still has around 25 years left in the workforce. I’m maxing out my 401(k) at […]

Any investor who is seeking cash flow from their portfolio is likely feeling a great deal of frustration about the current investment environment. The Federal Reserve has orchestrated historically low interest rates in an effort to stimulate our anemic economy. Retirees have been especially hard-hit as CDs purchased before 2008 are maturing and similar investments are yielding […]

  I recently received a letter from a Birmingham News reader signed, “A Frustrated Retiree”. In the letter he describes his frustration with the CD rates currently being offered by the banks and wants to know when rates will rise and what should he do with his money now in order to get more income. There […]

  President Obama unveiled his $447 billion jobs program about the same time Bank of America announced they would cut 30,000 jobs. It’s starting to feel like America is caught in a spaghetti western like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly where you can’t seem to catch a break. Likewise, President Obama’s plan contains a mixture […]

  The current economy stands at what I call ‘slack tide’…that point at which there is little or no movement. The next major decision out of Washington (or possibly other parts of the globe) will determine whether our economy begins to rise or whether it recedes into a secondary recession. Regardless, if you have money to invest, […]

  The recently released EZLaw Wills & Estate Planning survey indicated that one-third of parents with minor children didn’t believe they needed a will. Their assumption was that all assets would automatically go to the surviving spouse. Scary! First, these folks seem to miss the possibility that both parents could be killed in a common accident. This is what […]

Gold. For centuries the yellow metal that runs in veins along rock walls has sparked the imagination of men seeking to strike it rich. Even today, investing in gold remains one of the hottest topics of investors worldwide. Gold recently eclipsed $1800 per ounce for the first time as part of its remarkable run over the past few […]

  As thousands of students head for college, many for the first time, many others for their last year, what, as parents, do we hope they learn? Obviously, we want them to get a good education, one that will allow them to get a good paying job with opportunities for personal and financial growth. That’s why the […]

This past week I was speaking before a group of senior citizens and I asked for a show of hands on who was frustrated by the way our president and congressional representatives were running our country. Virtually all hands shot up. This sentiment appears to be a dominant opinion of Americans from coast to coast. If we are […]

  It could have been mistaken for a weekday game show…men and women running around in a frenzy making last minute decisions acting like children. Unfortunately, it was our congressional representatives trying to hammer out a compromise deal for raising the federal debt ceiling. This past week, President Obama signed a bill that allowed America to […]