Much confusion exists in the minds of consumers about who in the financial services world is a fiduciary. Currently the product-pushers are lavishing ungodly sums of money upon Washington as their army of lobbyists seeks to water down or eliminate a uniform fiduciary standard. And these are the people who claim to be looking out [...]
During a recent conversation with a client (who as CEO of her company often makes public comments - name, however, withheld for confidentiality reasons) she and I proverbially yelled at the kids to stay off our lawns. How?...by bemoaning how honesty has been killed off by political correctness and thinly-veiled attempts at sparing people’s feelings. [...]
Taxpayers may be on the hook for a ‘bailout’ larger (and less profitable) than the banks. Default on student loans is on the rise and now ‘misled’ students are demanding relief. Who will pick up the tab? You and I – the American taxpayer. Of course this has me thinking of others who have been [...]
Some rather provocative words from Barry Ritholtz: 3 simple rules will explain 99% of human behavior 1) Most people don’t think. 2) Some people are jerks. 3) Everyone is selling something. — Barry Ritholtz (@ritholtz) June 15, 2015 Point #3 reminds me of the sentiment, ‘everyone has an agenda.’ I fought this for the longest [...]
Sex sells. This isn't a surprise. But while we're titillated (how's that for a delicious pun?) by financial porn the feeling is fleeting. The results are disastrous. Just how bad is it? Kudos to Jimmy Atkinson at Fund Reference for putting together this plain language comparison (with pretty charts for the USA Today crowd) for [...]
Further evidence of how emotions are self-defeating when it comes to making decisions.
With the stress of tax season about to wash away (it does end, right?) we think a little Mike Judge-esque humor (i.e. poking fun at the absurdity of the everyday) is in order. It doesn’t have much to do with wealth management but it’s a refreshing soul cleanser. Every industry has jargon. Some is necessary [...]
According to a recent survey by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards 86% Americans say they’re stressed about their finances. What do they do about it? Nothing...at least in a meaningful or productive sense. 27% say that having a financial plan is the best way to reduce stress 22% say the answer is having [...]
The fiduciary standard is an ongoing debate in financial services. Who is a fiduciary, what is a fiduciary obligation, is it right for everyone and what happens if it’s cost prohibitive? To understand the debate requires a bit of context. Historically financial services were delivered piecemeal. Need to get your tax return filed? Call a [...]
There’s a reason retailers ask for information unrelated to our purchases. Thank you RadioShack for reminding us that privacy is seemingly a privilege and not a right.