April 19, 2020
If the first casualty of war is truth, surely it is also a victim of the partisan divide now infecting the national debate surrounding Coronavirus. “Facts are stubborn things”, said John Adams, and the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan expounded with, “You’re entitled to your opinion, you’re just not entitled to your own facts.” Allow me to suggest that truthful assessment does not focus only on those facts that support a preconceived conclusion—while covering up or ignoring those that don’t. Sound
April 5, 2020
After multiple conversations with many respected clients in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, I wanted to broach a subject that has caused some in our nation a shame-storm of criticism. I want to suggest that our public remedy, specifically our one-size-fits-all approach to Coronavirus, will soon have an irreversible impact on our country for 2020 and beyond, and that it risks untold damage to companies and entire industries if we continue on this path much longer—and to the lives of
March 2, 2020
As many of you are already aware, last week the DJIA had its worst week since the 2008 Financial Crisis, dropping more than 3600 points in five days. As most of you should also know, the accounts that you have with our firm do not lose money amid market declines, but hold their values from your most recent anniversary date without a loss. Not only is your principal protected, but each year’s accumulated gains are also locked in and protected
July 25, 2018
Bob and Julie, both age 65, just retired. They’re both healthy, unafraid of market risk, and have a $750,000 IRA averaging 6% annual growth that their broker has told them “should last them the rest of their lives.” The following are the average realities facing any such couple in August of 2018: When a couple reaches the age of 65 together, one of them has a 50% chance of living to 92, and a 25% chance of living to 97
May 28, 2018
By: Thomas K. Brueckner One of the most accurate portrayals of the liquidity crisis surrounding the Subprime Housing Market Collapse of 2007 & 2008, was an HBO “docu-drama” entitled Too Big to Fail, the screenplay for which was derived from extensive interviews with each of the participants. These included Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Hank Paulson, Sheila Bair (the FDIC Chairwoman), and Fed chief Ben Bernanke, stoically played by Paul Giamatti. In the climactic scene, those four regulators are sitting on
March 30, 2018
After one heck of a year, we’ve had one heck of a month and, not to be outdone, one heck of a week. After falling as much as -11.3% from its January highs, the S&P 500 just recorded a March slump of -3.2% and is down nearly -2.6% on the year. The following have weighed on the stock market in just the last two weeks: The new Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, whose first day in office was greeted by the
March 30, 2017
Watching the President’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, investors were looking for words that would inspire confidence in our economy and those “wildly overbought” markets we’ve seen since Election Day. At this writing, the “Trump rally” has added an astonishing $3.2 trillion dollars to capital markets in the U.S., and the S&P 500 is up over 13% since November 8th. The day after the speech, the Dow was up as much as 350 points, as investors gave the President high
November 9, 2016
Welcome back, Red-State America! Early this morning, America witnessed an unprecedented and historical political upset in the election of a “blue collar billionaire” in Donald J. Trump to the Presidency of the United States. The screenshot above shows the counties won by Trump in red, along with the counties won by Ms. Clinton in blue, truly a stunning level of dominance given the victory that was supposedly assured the former secretary. In addition, voters came out in record numbers
August 24, 2016
As our monthly seminar attendees are settling into their seats, I often pose this question: “How many of you would be willing to give up some of your gains, in exchange for never losing money in the stock market again?” Every hand in the room goes up. As our 50-something clients approach retirement, their ongoing needs can easily be broken down into 3 areas: Accumulation, Income, and Legacy. In this article, we will deal with the need for accumulation, i.e.
August 8, 2016
As our 50-something clients approach retirement, their ongoing needs can easily be broken down into 3 areas: Accumulation, Income, and Legacy. In this article, we will deal with guaranteed income for life, i.e. checks that keep coming at 92 even if the money ran out at your age 85. Guaranteed Lifetime Income: A Case Study John is 68 and Mary is 62. Mary spent 5 years caring for her aging mother, who died at 97, after her funds ran out
