Tax increase due to advisor “rebalancing”?
Advisors promote this buy and sell activity to justify their
quarterly fee charges. Is it really helpful to you? You pay more tax. Vanguard
did a test of many types of rebalancing strategies. None were superior.
Selling your winners and buying your losers creates taxes, fees and commissions.
It lowers your annual total return as well as your overall volatility. The
costs reduce the total return so this strategy seems to have only one result:
fee generation. Quarterly rebalancing also justifies your advisor’s lifestyle. ‘Doing
nothing’ is hard to justify for a fee.
A better strategy—‘Do Nothing’ as Warren Buffett says. http://www.amazon.com/The-Wealth-Tao-Wu-Wei/dp/1499351348
Advisers NOT telling total costs so we lose up to 63% of
earnings
The average total cost their clients actually pay is 1.83%
of assets, the survey of 159 advisers found. Total costs include the adviser
fee, administrative fee, platform fee and product fee. Most advisers are
required to list their fees but don’t. The costs that some advisers don't fully
account for include administrative fees, which can be buried in prospectus
documents, and platform fees, Mr. Carson said. John
Bogle, Vanguard founder, estimates we can lose 63% of possible nest egg to
costs.
No need to lose up to 63% of your TOTAL accumulations: http://www.amazon.com/Keep-More-What-Earn-Diversification/dp/1479293474
401k up 12.7% (if you left your money alone)
Vanguard reports that the average 401(k) account balance
rose from $56,000 in 2008 to $102,000 in 2013. And even factoring in contributions,
Vanguard research analyst Jean Young reports that one study of 401(k)
participants, conducted by the firm, showed an average annual return rate of
12.7% over the same five-year period. Household income averaged up much
less at the current median figure of $52,959. Tune up your 401k: http://www.amazon.com/Tune-your-401k-EARN-Tax-FREE/dp/1490591028
American Dream dead?
A CNN/ORC International poll in 2014 showed
that 59 percent of Americans believe the
American dream is impossible, compared to 40 percent who say
they believe it is. College grads under age 30 have huge student loan payment
at gouge rates and can’t find jobs that can carry the debt. Some have gone home
to parents. Many share rooms. Some work many part time jobs. Some try starting
new business with no money. Few average students are making their way. Fewer
still are starting their savings/investing plan. Starting early is key to
having enough tax-FREE: http://www.amazon.com/New-American-Retirement-System-Tax-FREE/dp/1461030072
Advisers escape responsibility for mistakes by filing
“Bankruptcy offers advisers a chance to transform a crisis
into an opportunity — not just to clear their financial slate, but to better
relate to clients' struggles with money.” So says adviser industry.
What about our money? Their opportunity—but our losses.
Wealth without Wall Street’s fees, commissions, expenses, charges,
etc: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Killers-commissions-expenses-Tax-FREE/dp/1489573828
Wall Street exec sees another tax payer bailout!
BlackRock Inc.'s Laurence Fink, who oversees the world's
biggest ETF lineup, said leveraged ETFs are a structural problem and have the
potential to "blow up" the industry. These index funds (exchange-traded
funds) are becoming popular with advisors because they can earn
fees/commissions. Leveraging (using bank money) creates bigger losses or gains.
Protect yourself—Use Buffett’s strategy: http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Investment-Strategy-Forget/dp/1484822900
Smart investors earn 13% a year
A survey
of defined contribution investors (401k) shows that simple rules of investing
pay off. Savvy savers use only low-fee, high-yield compounding accounts. The
study found the more financially literate held a greater share of stocks in their portfolios and more volatile holdings than
the less knowledgeable. Keep more of what you contribute and earn: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-every-school-graduate-century/dp/1466427906
GOP crazies say God helped him stop amnesty for kids
“God acted through people on my behalf,” new tea party
winner Dave
Brat said on Fox News shortly after his victory over House leader Cantor. Cantor
wasn’t exactly caught sleeping. He spent $1 million in the weeks leading up to
the primary on television ads calling Brat a “liberal college professor,” and
sent out mailers boasting he’d blocked “amnesty” on Capitol Hill. Apparently
not enough. Far right voters saw those 47,000 kids in prison camps awaiting
deportation and didn’t want the House giving them amnesty. So we are giving the
kids lawyers so they can fight! Where are the embassies?
MN Uninsured Has Plunged 40 Percent Under Obamacare
Minnesota has seen its uninsured
rate plunge by more than 40% since the implementation of the Affordable Care
Act, according to a new study released this week.
The study,
released by researchers at the University
of Minnesota Minnesota fell from
445,000 (about 8.2% of the population) to about 264,500 (about 4.9% of the
population).
The decrease is similar to the effects in Massachusetts
after similar healthcare reforms were implemented there in 2006. It's a larger
increase than the Congressional Budget Office has projected for the entire United States — a drop from
54 million under previous law to 42 million under the Affordable Care Act.
Insurers now racing to join ObamaCare
Ten insurers are seeking approval to sell 504 separate
health plans next year on the Illinois Illinois said
Thursday. The surge in interest in the Illinois exchange
allays widespread concerns that carriers would walk away from offering coverage
under the Affordable Care Act next year because sicker-than-expected
pools of patients would sign up and raise financial risks associated with
participating. Last year, just six insurers offered 165 policies in Illinois .
More insurance companies are expressing an interest in
selling policies on Kentucky
All five insurance companies that sold policies this year on
the exchange known as Kynect want to come back for 2015, and at least one other
-- CareSource -- wants to join them. State officials said they are optimistic
that several other insurers will file in the next few weeks to sell policies in
the coming year on the exchange. Kynect is an online insurance marketplace
offering health insurance plans for Kentuckians. It was created last
year by Gov. Steve Beshear, as called for in the federal Affordable Care
Act.
Unbiased car insurer for vets picks best value cars
USAA unveiled its fourth-annual Best Value list
identifying the top 2014 automobiles rating highest in safety, reliability and
affordability. The 2014 Best Value vehicles
are almost all made in USA
but designed (ignitions too) by others.
SCAMS Why are
we still paying $700 Billion a year
for WWII deployments?
We are paying for 164,253 of our active-duty armed personnel
to be in 150 countries around the world. We have about 50,000 in Japan
and 50,000 in Germany .
Are we preparing for WWII again? There are 1,208,083[1] armed
personnel in the United States .
Our taxes pay for about HALF of the WORLD’s military expenditures
every year.
We just can’t afford to pay for everyone else’s defenses
anymore.
SEC says Scott Valente convinced 80 investors in upstate New
York to turn over $8.8 million in the last four
years. SEC is closing him.
IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
973.746.2014
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