892 articles · page 39 of 45
Financial journalism on TV has always been a difficult job. First, the mass audience is largely uneducated about the topic. Second, investing is a long-term process, but TV needed an exciting, immediate return for its advertisers. Third, the topic needed to be re-invented to make it exciting. Finally, it could not be purely educational, so…
Quantitative easing has been the Fed’s major policy to resurrect the economy since late-2008, but after spending hundreds of billions in the process, it is now fair to ask if better tools were available to resurrect the economy faster than massive bond purchases. It’s a legitimate question, especially considering the latest nominal GDP numbers released…
The study of economics was originally called political economy because classical economists readily acknowledged that monetary policies were determined by the state, or at least its most affluent social groups. But as economic theories and fiscal policy development became more complex, economics became a distinct science, and seemingly shed its political origins. Now, it seems,…
Health care reform has many things in common with the way financial services are delivered, and could be changed, if financial reform gets more political and public support. But in the interim, changes are coming to a related industry–insurance brokers–who are now re-inventing themselves due to changes in the way health care will be delivered…
Disclosure has its pros and cons. It is good when someone wants to release good news, and the opposite emerges when there is bad news afoot. That seems to be the case when Yale University Law Professor Ian Ayers sent 6,000 letters to plan sponsors notifying them of their ranking in terms of fees and…
The historic decision by Detroit to declare bankruptcy under the rarely used Chapter 9 clause has not only upended municipal bond markets, but it has also focused more attention on municipal pensions and created an odd endorsement to protect the city’s 20,000 pensioners from having their benefits cut or eliminated by Michigan’s Republican Governor Rick…
Something does not add up in a recent survey on the impact of the DOL mutual fund fee disclosure regulations on 401(k) plan participants. According to a survey of 416 plan sponsors conducted by BMO Retirement Services, 80% of employers reported that the new DOL rules mandating full disclosure of retirement plan fees and expenses…
Baby Boomers may recognize the old 1964 Rolling Stones’ song, “Time Is On My Side,” but when it comes to people who are approaching retirement, they should start humming another tune. That’s because with the huge losses in both home prices and in their equity portfolios, anyone approaching retirement should be trying to recoup their…
A recent article noted that two powerful financial services lobbying groups are warning that if the SEC pushes for adopting a universal fiduciary standard will be very expensive for financial firms. But since individual investors have few advocates in Washington, no one has bothered to ask how much money the existing, non-fiduciary system costs millions…
Just as we continue to hear about the benefits of free markets for free men, government investigators and economists on both sides of the Atlantic are expanding their probes into price fixings for gasoline, while economists are trying to develop a methodology to determine how much the LIBOR price fixing scandal has costs consumers and…
News that the CEO and chairman of the drug distribution corporation McKesson Corporation has received the largest pension in U.S. history highlights the gap between corporate executives and their employees. As more corporations discontinue their pensions ans convert to 401(k)s, where employees assume all the risk for navigating their financial futures over four or five…
Recent news that the Case-Shiller Housing Index posted a five-year high in May is cause for some celebration at the macro-level, but since the index is so regionally variable, investors and average homeowners should not start spending their home equity and paper appreciation. That’s the caution from Yale Professor Robert Shiller, co-developer of the Case-Shiller…
It should not be any surprise that a June 2013 Gallup poll finds that a majority of workers don’t like their jobs, the accompanying workplace stress and working conditions. These poll results are expected because workers have not received wages increases for the past few decades, nor benefited from the greater recent productivity gains and…
Recent declines in 401(k) fees in both small and large plans benefits all 401(k) investors, but more investors must become more involved in managing their fund expenses if they want to save thousands of dollars more over their investing lifetimes and secure a more financially retirement. That is the advice from Chuck Epstein, author of…
Anyone who has ever spent time on an exchange’s trading floor goes through a progression of observations. First, is the awe at the commotion. There are the coats of different colors, the trader’s frenzy, the enormity of the closed space, the roar, the clutter of papers and the mix of all types, sizes and colors…
The famous scene in “Casablanca,” in which police commissioner Captain Renault (Claude Rains) tells ex-patriate Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) that he is “shocked” to see gambling going on in the casino-bar, has earned its place in movie history. Now, investors will be similarly “shocked” to hear that JP Morgan’s brokerage arm is pushing its sales…
KPLU -FM radio in Seattle, Washington, has aired the interview they conducted with me on my book, and the negative impact of fees on 401(k)s and mutual funds. KPLU’s business and labor reporter Ashley Gross did a great job of conducting the interview. The audio is available here As of now, no music video is…
KPLU radio (88.5 FM), the NPR affiliate in Seattle, Washington will air an interview with me on my book at 6:30 am and 8:30 am on Monday, June 10. The interviewer is Ashley Gross, KPLU’s business reporter. The book is “How 401(k) Fees Destroy Wealth and What Investors Can Do To Protect Themselves.”
Dear Girlfriend: As one of your viewers, it may be time to change the format of questions you ask during the “Can You Afford It” segment. For those of you who don’t know, this is the segment when people contact Girlfriend to ask whether they can afford to buy a special item or experience, such…
“The system is presented as having such a mystique that apparent evil becomes a kind of good.” ––The Organization Man, William Wythe, Chapter 19 Wall Street abhors change, so an examination of its past presents great insights into its future. Here is one very significant object lesson from the New York Stock Exchange which simultaneously…
