The party is over. November is the end of the 6 month transition period for new college grads to starting paying their first loan repayments. New grads will need to start figuring in their loan repayment in to their monthly budgets and savings plan. This week, America Saves, an initiative of the Consumer Federation of [...]
One of the most powerful financial planning tools being used today is the Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT). A CRT is a special tax- exempt irrevocable trust arrangement which complies with Federal tax laws. Assets can be placed into the trust to provide income for the donor and/or the donor’s chosen beneficiaries. There are two types [...]
Although banks are probably more well known for selling safe money products such as bank CD’s (certificate of deposit), they have done extremely well selling annuities as well. In fact, a recent report form Michael White Associates and the American Bankers Insurance Association (ABIA) revealed that annuity fee income at banks rose to $2.84 billion [...]
The current battle between adding life and health insurance company shareholder value versus policyholder value is one that reminds me of the impact of a Neutron Bomb: It can destroy policyholders or shareholders while leaving buildings intact. As large private equity firms like Harbinger, Guggenheim, and Apollo duke it out for a 25% stake in our business, [...]
If there’s major inflation, some theories say you’ll want to own hard assets. Investors turn to things of value they can touch to protect themselves against rapidly rising prices. One of the most popular ways for investors to seek shelter from inflation is gold. The value of gold has been rising since May [...]
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