In early June the first wave of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary standard went into effect. The rule requires professionals providing advice on retirement accounts to act in the best interests of their clients. In theory it sounds great but for it to be effective the public must know who is/isn’t a fiduciary . . [...]
In response to regulatory pressure and settlement of lawsuits with 32 states the Big Three of credit reporting – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – have decided to omit certain negative items from the credit reports of consumers. Examples include: Tax-lien and civil-judgment data that don’t include a complete list of at least three data points [...]
I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage. I’ve found that just surviving was a noble fight. I once believed in causes too. I had my pointless point of view. And life went on no matter who was wrong or right. - from Billy Joel's "Angry Young Man" Life advice from the [...]
Love your companion animals? Of course! Want to be buried with them? Maybe...and if you live in New York you now have that option. On 9/24/16 Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law the measure allowing people to be buried with the cremated remains of their companion animals. Cemeteries aren't required to offer the option. Religious [...]
Editor’s Note: “Companion animal” is the preferred term – just doesn’t make for a catchy title. Although many states define companion animals as property most of us view them as family members. With the recent passing of legislation in Minnesota the creation of pet trusts is now possible in all 50 states. While the following [...]
Our caveman ancestors had a simple test for survival – Fight or Flight. In our modern world money is the source of survival. As a result every primitive survival and pleasure-seeking drive is intensely focused on capturing and guarding money. These drives are involuntary and highly emotional emerging more quickly and forcefully than logical analysis. [...]
You have the right to remain silent - and to unlock your phone for us! One of life's realities is that the legal system fails to keep up with the pace of technological change. Here's an example where technology forgot about one of life's realities. That is, while people cannot be compelled to reveal passwords [...]
The recent release of the “fiduciary rule” from the Department of Labor is being hailed as a boon to consumers. Conflicts of interest in the retirement advice industry are supposed to be a thing of the best. But will they be? Many consumers seek guidance from a brokerage firm. You know them well – Morgan [...]
Earlier this week the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released new rules aimed at ensuring providers of retirement investment advice adhere to a fiduciary standard – that is, to put the best interests of clients first and above all. This may seem like an obvious point but as we wrote here many investors have no idea [...]
As Donald Trump's campaign gains steam Google searches for "move to Canada" are at their highest level since 2004 when "W" was seeking a second term. We could provide you with some financial things to consider but that's about as exciting as watching paint dry. So what do we have for you instead? How about [...]