Frank's Articles

03/29/12 - Asset Class investing

Would you like to exert more control over your investment results, explore strategies with the highest probability of achieving your goals, lower...read more

03/28/12 - Long Term vs. Short Term Bonds

In my first column, I discussed some of the insights offered by modern financial research, and I promised that this time around I'd offer...read more

03/27/12 - Adding International Equities to Your Portfolio

In our last installment, we made significant improvements to the bond portion of our portfolio. Now let's turn our attention to the stock...read more

03/26/12 - Adding Small Caps to Your Portfolio

In our last column, we diversified internationally using the traditional foreign asset class, Morgan Stanley's Europe, Australia, and...read more

03/25/12 - Improve Your Portfolio: Think Value

Many of you who read the previous installment in this series probably weren't surprised at the Fama-French finding that small-company stocks...read more

03/24/12 - Time for a Little R&R

In our past articles we have worked hard and developed a pretty good portfolio. Now it's time for a little R&R--That's Review and Reality...read more

03/23/12 - Applying Our Lessons

We have built a nice little portfolio, but it won't be attractive to all investors. Some will want more return, and are willing to live with more...read more

03/22/12 - Expanding Our Horizons

Recently, emerging-market investors have had a wild ride. First, the Mexican disaster not so long ago, and the subsequent "Tequila Effect" that...read more

03/21/12 - The Case Against Gold

Two thousand years ago, a Roman senator could buy a really spiffy, top-of-the-line toga for about the equivalent of one ounce of gold. The Armani...read more

03/20/12 - Real Estate's Place

Real estate is an important asset class. Unfortunately, it's not an easy one for most investors to gain access to. The real estate market meets...read more

03/19/12 - Hedge Funds As An Asset Class

Hedge funds, long the unknown preserve of the super rich, have been making lots of news lately. Ever thought about becoming a hedge fund manager...read more

03/18/12 - Commodities As An Asset Class

I began selling securities in 1974--not particularly auspicious timing. From 1973 to 1974, the US stock market lost nearly half its value....read more

03/17/12 - Adding Bonds To Your Portfolio

Bonds are typically issued at par, redeemed at par, and along the way they fluctuate in value as prevailing interest rates change. Their total...read more

03/16/12 - Retirement: The Accumulation Phase

Retirement is one of investors’ biggest concerns. Yet surprisingly few investors have a comprehensive road map to get them where they want to...read more

03/15/12 - Retirement Planning: Not Relying On The Averages

Place one hand on a hot stove, and the other on a slab of dry ice. Any statistician will tell you that on average, you are comfortable--but, of...read more

03/14/12 - Retirement Planning: Making It Last Forever

The one giant disaster most retirees would like to avoid is running out of money while still alive. Everything else pales in comparison to that...read more

03/13/12 - Retirement Planning: Having It Both Ways

It could be so simple. If average returns were real returns, retirees could assume they would make, say, 10% each year, spend 6%, and count on 4%...read more

03/12/12 - Battling College Costs: Section 529 Plans

The second biggest worry for many investors--after retirement--is how they are ever going to find the bucks to send the kids to college. Whatever...read more

03/11/12 - Battling College Costs Part II

College education costs are high enough to put fear into the hearts of most parents. But our children’s financial success or failure will most...read more

03/10/12 - Less Than Meets The Eye: Equity Linked CD's

It sounded too good to be true, which should have tipped me off: A five-year equity-linked CD that offers a return-of-principal guarantee backed...read more

03/09/12 - Keeping What You Have: Asset Protection Planning

In 1994, 800,000 lawyers filed 14 million civil suits, an increase of 25% over the preceding five years. Seven of 10 adults will be sued during...read more

03/08/12 - Asset Protection: The Basics

Are you sure you will never be sued? Are you sure that if you are, the courts will be fair? Are you willing to bet your entire financial future on...read more

03/08/12 - The Street has Published Frank's Article "End Up King of Mountain With The Glide Slope"

Frank’s article ‘End Up King Of Mountain With The Glide Slope' was published on The Street. Click the external url to read the full article. read more

03/07/12 - Hazardous To Your Wealth

Benjamin Graham was right: Investors are their own worst enemies. It's no great secret that investors generally achieve disappointing...read more

03/06/12 - Perils of Owning Company Stock

Here’s a little food for thought: The August 23 issue of Pension and Investments states that that 43.8% of the total assets of the 50 largest...read more

03/05/12 - The Beauty of Conversion

The distribution options after the traditional IRA's required beginning date leave more than a little to be desired. As discussed in previous...read more

03/04/12 - Investing, Circa 1973

The economics, investment, and finance courses I took as a student in the 1960s are probably pretty representative of that generation's investment...read more

03/03/12 - MPT: The Watershed Event of Modern Finance

It's a rare thing for a graduate student's thesis to change the world. But Harry Markowitz's 1952 dissertation did just that. Later republished as...read more

03/02/12 - From Outcast To Champion: The History of Funds

Three Boston securities executives announced their new investment vehicle in 1924: the mutual fund. The new offering, Massachusetts Investors...read more

03/01/12 - The Growth Bucket and The Liquidity Bucket

A young widow with two children, who is struggling to get by, will certainly need a different portfolio than her single friend on the corporate...read more

02/28/12 - Corporate Finance and Corporate Performance

Back in my college finance classes, we struggled to construct an optimum corporate capital structure. Smart corporate finance officers supposedly...read more

02/09/12 - Employer Responsibility for Pension Plans

It’s time for pension plan sponsors to get serious about their fiduciary obligations. Simply put, the employer’s obligation for the plan...read more

11/28/11 - Morningstar has published Frank's article "Pension Plan Sponsors"

Frank's article "Pension Plan Sponsors" was published by Morningstar. Click here to read the article.read more

11/23/11 - Employer Responsibility for Pension Plans

It’s time for pension plan sponsors to get serious about their fiduciary obligations. Simply put, the employer’s obligation for the plan...read more

11/11/11 - Bloomberg quotes Frank in the article "Biggest Investor Mistakes"

Frank was quoted on Bloomberg.com. Click here to read the full article.read more

10/31/11 - SunSentinel quotes Frank in the article "Pushed into a bad investment?"

Frank was quoted  on SunSentinel.com. Click here to read the article.read more

09/15/11 - The Rebirth of the Snake Oil Salesman

When I was a child, every county fair, and every carnival had a snake oil salesman. These remarkable fellows persuaded otherwise sensible citizens...read more

08/01/11 - The Role of Rebalancing

A disciplined rebalancing practice can add a lot of value to a long term strategic asset allocation program. Buy and hold might properly be...read more

03/18/11 - When a 401(k) Just Isn't Enough

Is this you? You are at the top of your profession, in your peak earning years, but looking forward to eventually winding down and enjoying a...read more

02/04/11 - Constructing an Effective Retirement Portfolio

An effective retirement portfolio must balance several sometimes conflicting needs. It must support the planned withdrawal rate, provide for...read more

08/06/10 - Did Modern Financial Theory Fail?

None of us have enjoyed the last three years. And of course, after a traumatic event people look for reasons and answers. It’s natural to...read more

07/23/10 - Total Return Investing: A Superior Solution to Generating Reliable Distributions

Your grandfather invested for income and crammed his portfolio full of dividend stocks, preferred shares, convertible bonds, and more generic...read more

06/18/10 - Golden Rules to Keep Your Gold!

Not a week passes without a new Ponzi scheme or scam emerging. The numbers are staggering. Bernie Madoff set the gold standard with losses...read more

11/06/09 - Worst Market Decade Ever - Not So!

It's already started. The media is full of blather that this is the worst decade for stocks ever. The corollary is that stocks have failed us and...read more

10/16/09 - What's the value of conflict free advice?

Whenever conflicts of interest exist you can be sure that some people will take advantage of them. The pension consulting business has a...read more

09/01/09 - Don't Lose Retirement Benefits When Changing Jobs

The average American changes jobs about once every three and a half years. That means that a person could easily switch jobs more than ten times...read more

08/18/09 - The Glide Slope

An aid to manage risk in retirement accounts Here’s an easy way to estimate how much risk you should take at each stage of your career....read more

05/22/09 - The Three Ps - Oh, Please!!!: How Not to Construct an Institutional Portfolio

Way back in the 20 th Century people actually believed that superior managers could consistently add value over and above a simple market index...read more

05/22/09 - The Tuna Fish Factor

When you think of it, stocks are a lot like tuna fish. You buy them today to use sometime in the future. You don't expect to eat it in the store,...read more

04/17/09 - Wither Flation?

Numerous reports estimate that the total cost for the announced US Government programs to cure the financial crisis and jump start the economy...read more

04/17/09 - Wither Flation?

Numerous reports estimate that the total cost for the announced US Government programs to cure the financial crisis and jump start the economy...read more

04/14/09 - Social Security Reform - A Few Modest Suggestions

There really is a problem Social Security is not "just fine" today! Pretending so is morally, economically and politically indefensible. The...read more

04/06/09 - The Public-Private Investment Program

Mark to Making a Market Would you buy a "toxic" asset? Certainly not. How about a "legacy real estate-related" asset? Well that sounds...read more

03/28/09 - Social Security Reform in Other Countries Part III

As we consider converting our present Social Security System from an unfunded defined benefit plan to a partially funded defined contribution...read more

01/14/09 - Trust But Verify

For those of you who don’t remember Ronald Reagan, this was one of his favorite themes while negotiating the IMF Treaty finally concluded with...read more

12/18/08 - The Stock Market: What Am I Doing Here?

As this is written in December of 2008, the global stock markets are headed for one of their worst years ever. Not the worst, but pretty bad. The...read more

12/01/08 - The Alternative to Business as Usual on Wall Street

Now that Wall Street's giant Investment Banks have proved themselves hopelessly corrupt, colossally incompetent, and spectacularly insolvent it's...read more

11/07/08 - Engine Failure Takeoff Continued

Many of you know that in a previous life I was an Air Force Pilot flying KC-135A Air Refueling Tankers. We all sometimes referred to the KC-135A...read more

08/25/08 - Viva La Diferencia!

Fee-Only Independent Registered Investment Advisors are an entirely different animal than the brokerages, broker-dealers, insurance companies,...read more

07/03/08 - The Fiduciary's Default Investment Choice

Several high profile class action law suits are now winding their way through the Federal Courts alleging high costs, sustained underperformance,...read more

03/26/08 - Broken Record

Occasionally I feel like a broken record. I've been in the financial services and investment business for almost 35 years. And while much has...read more

03/03/08 - Cleaning up the Cesspools

A recent US Supreme Court case could go a long way toward clearing up the 401(k) landscape. In LARUE v. DEWOLFF, BOBERG & ASSOCIATES, INC., ET...read more

02/20/08 - The Best Investment You Will Ever Make

What if I told you that I had an investment that would return a guaranteed 18% to 36%? And, to make it even sweeter, there was no risk at all....read more

01/07/08 - The Emperor Has No Clothes!

The great Wall Street houses promote the fiction that somewhere in their back room is a guru who knows when the market will go up and down, and...read more

09/07/07 - Dealing With Market Volatility

Occasionally, market volatility rears its ugly head. If your asset allocation is right to meet your unique needs and risk tolerance, you can...read more

07/31/07 - More Hedge Fund Woes

Hedge funds are in the news again. The near melt down of two Bear Sterns funds sent ripples through the world's financial markets. We are detached...read more

07/31/07 - Cleaning Up Credit Card Debt

Many people use credit cards responsibly. They buy no more than they can afford and pay off the entire balance each month. Properly used they are...read more

06/20/07 - Beyond the Expense Ratio - Is expense ratio the best measure of cost and value?

Capitalism is a great thing for investors. In return for supplying their hard earned funds to the world's markets, and accepting the risks that go...read more

04/16/07 - Investing In Your Values

I'm very sympathetic to folks who would like to invest in their values.  But, I'm not sure how to turn that into anything close to an optimal...read more

04/05/07 - Understanding Investment Measurements

Measuring investment return is slightly less straight forward than it might appear at first glance. But, it's not rocket science. Some very simple...read more

03/12/07 - Return, Risk and Probability of Success

Why manage risk? Investors focus with a laser-like intensity on a single factor of investment success: rate of return.  It's simple to...read more

10/02/06 - Another One Bites the Dust!

Amaranth Advisors, LLC's Chairman recently told investors that "highly unusual market behavior" and "a series of unusual events" caused the loss...read more

09/11/06 - Modern Portfolio Theory: The Watershed Event In Modern Finance

It's a rare thing for a graduate student's thesis to change the world. But Harry Markowitz's 1952 dissertation did just that. Later republished as...read more

07/06/06 - The View From The Cockpit

Airline pilots and investment advisors both have to re-assure their customers when things go bump in the night. Back in another life I flew...read more

07/06/06 - Suspension of Disbelief

  You can't have escaped hearing about hedge funds. Wall Street is gearing up to provide registered product and fund of funds to the middle...read more

06/16/06 - Risk and Return in Bonds

In the universe of the average investor, bonds provide two important functions. They reduce the risk of the portfolio, and provide a store of...read more

06/02/06 - Why Don't Investors Tilt More?

Your friends and most institutions all have equity portfolios that might be described as domestic total market. If we plot out the characteristics...read more

04/28/06 - My Eureka! Moment

Long ago and far away, before Windows, before the Internet, and before Morningstar on disk, an almost young man was trying to decide what to do...read more

02/17/06 - I Don't Have A Thousand Years

Investment advisors talk about the long run because markets are variable. We don’t have nearly enough long term data, and at best, short term...read more

12/08/05 - Hedge Funds as Pension Investments

Is There Really an Alternative Universe? Is there a parallel universe where things fall upwards, time goes backwards, and none of the other...read more

08/02/05 - Surviving in an Era of Cradle to Grave Insecurity!

Sink or Swim Series - Introduction The days when all you needed to do was show up reasonably often over your career to earn a guaranteed...read more

07/08/05 - Beyond Indexing Part I

Passive investing is a major improvement over actively managed techniques. Index funds have long been the standard for passive investing. More...read more

05/16/05 - Brilliant But Not Free!

Just a few years ago, if you wanted to sell one no-load mutual fund to buy one from another company you had to write (that's right-snail mail!) to...read more

03/02/05 - Chile's Social Security Revolution:A Social Security Primer II

Investor Solutions is publishing a three part series on social security, prompted by the current efforts at reform being launched by the Bush...read more

02/17/05 - Social Security Primer

This is the first in a three part series on Social Security, prompted by the current efforts at reform being launched by the Bush Administration....read more

01/27/05 - Risk and Reward Part II: Another Look

Two portfolios with identical average returns but different risk levels will have different accumulations. In other words, not all 10% returns are...read more

12/13/04 - Risk and Reward Part I

Risk and reward may be related in the global sense, but they certainly don't have to be in your portfolio! It's true - risk and reward are...read more

11/15/04 - How Much International?

Many investors avoid international exposure in the mistaken belief that they are avoiding unnecessary risk. In fact, by failing to diversify cross...read more

10/12/04 - An Easy Two Percent

If you could be highly confident that you could improve your investment returns by almost 2% per year while taking less risk, would you do it?...read more

07/15/04 - Commodities As An Asset Class

At first blush, commodities sounds like a risky strategy that only a wild and crazy guy would consider. In fact it's just the opposite. Properly...read more

06/05/04 - Evidence Based Investing

Not so very long ago, if you developed a fever some of the world's most prominent physicians would open up one of your veins and bleed you for a...read more

06/05/04 - Stocks As An Inflation Hedge

The talking heads have gone into overdrive: Inflation is the next big peril! These are the same bright guys that warned us of deflation last year,...read more

03/12/04 - No Break Points

B Share mutual fund pricing is hardly ever a good thing for the investor, but it's a great thing for brokers. Brokers seem to be born with a...read more

03/08/04 - Social Security: Fix It or Lose it!

In a Ponzi Scheme money is shuffled to a few "winners" from early "investors" who in turn will be paid off by later investors until the whole...read more

02/24/04 - Trouble In Dollar Land

The US Government's massive fiscal stimulus may have perked up our domestic economy a little, but currency traders around the world watched...read more

01/18/04 - Understanding Your Results

When my wife asks me "How do I look?", believe me, the right answer isn't: "Relative to what?". It's unlikely that she would appreciate a...read more

01/12/04 - Kissed by Randomness

It's a matter of faith with me that owners of diversified accounts cannot expect to ever have the top performing portfolio on their block. Last...read more

01/12/04 - Fund Manager Of The Year?

Morningstar just announced their list of fund managers of the year, their annual tribute to the inefficient market. Morningstar is dedicated to...read more

12/09/03 - Mutual Fund Alternatives

With regulators and many board members asleep at the switch, the $7 trillion invested in mutual funds was bound to tempt some unsavory activity....read more

11/18/03 - Gotcha! A Hard Look At The Annuity Business

Insurance companies have the perfect "Heads I win, Tails You Lose" game in the fixed annuity business. It's very profitable, and few consumers...read more

09/05/03 - It Don't Get Much Worse Than This!

The results are in, and they stink! Dalbar's 2003 update of their widely quoted study, "Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior" (QAIB) shows...read more

07/28/03 - Where Are They Now?

I often encounter investors that still believe that the most important criteria for selecting an investment manager is past performance. This can...read more

04/28/03 - Where Are They Now? Update

Just in case there is some misguided soul somewhere on this planet that still thinks that managers add value consistently, or that past...read more

02/18/03 - Dealing with Turmoil

Economic, political and military uncertainty tends to depress market prices. Resolution of the uncertainty even if events turn out badly  tends...read more

01/18/03 - Dividend Tax Reform

The President's vision for tax reform and fiscal stimulus triggered an immediate hostile reaction from the opposing party. Politics as usual in...read more

01/10/03 - Fund Manager Of The Year?

Morningstar just announced their list of fund managers of the year, their annual tribute to the inefficient market. Morningstar is dedicated to...read more

12/20/02 - Strategy vs. Outcome

Investing is a noisy process. In the short term, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between cause and effect. In the longer term, even with...read more

10/25/02 - The Investment Consulting Game: A Totally Brain Dead Enterprise

The one thing that Wall Street tells you that you can always take to the bank is: "Past performance is no guarantee of future performance." Of...read more

10/07/02 - Avoiding Advisor Risk

Market Risk and Behavior Risk are well known and frequently discussed. However, there is another type of risk that is often overlooked; The...read more

10/07/02 - Avoiding Advisor Risk

Market Risk, and Behavior Risk are well known and frequently discussed. But, there is another type of risk that is often overlooked; The Advisor...read more

07/29/02 - What's an Investor To Do?

Two and a half years into what the Wall Street Journal recently called the worst bear market in fifty years, many investors are rightfully...read more

06/25/02 - The Dollar Slide

With all the juicy scandals this month, the steep fall of the dollar has hardly percolated off the financial pages into the public's attention....read more

04/23/02 - The Risk Premium Debate

Is It Time To Reassess Our Expected Return Assumptions? Estimation of future returns is a critical issue for both advisors and investors....read more

04/17/02 - Know When to Fold 'Em

Frozen, like a deer in a spotlight. OK, you have done your financial planning, analyzed your existing holdings, and designed an asset allocation...read more

04/16/02 - Dump the Performance Fairy

One of the chief obstacles to becoming an enlightened investor is the belief in a performance fairy. Unlike Tinker Bell, who flew around doing...read more

04/16/02 - Is It Safe To Go Back Into Stocks? Dumb Question, Wrong Answer

As the Dow creeps back toward the 10,000 mark, we are beginning to see and hear the financial press speculating about whether it's safe to go back...read more

04/16/02 - Still Misbehaving

Investor behavior is the single biggest obstacle to achieving acceptable longterm returns. Far too many investors are their own worst enemies....read more

04/16/02 - Investors: Repent & Reform

Evidence keeps piling up that investors are their own worst enemies. Of all the risks that investors face, their own behavior may be the...read more

04/16/02 - Is Global Asset Allocation Still Appropriate?

Last year brought globally diversified investors solid but uninspiring results. For the third year in a row, global asset allocation...read more

04/16/02 - Education Funding Alternatives

The 2001 Tax Act dramatically changed the education funding landscape, making education funding far more affordable, and choices more attractive...read more

04/08/02 - Please Don't Shoot The Messenger

One of the liveliest debates in modern finance revolves around defining the appropriate equity premium. Before you dismiss this as totally an...read more

04/03/02 - Capital Pricing Model

The fickle finger of fate If Bill Sharpe's first thesis had been accepted, the world of finance might look a lot different today....read more

03/22/02 - Changing Jobs: Smart Moves For Your Pension Plan I

If you are changing jobs, one of the many big decisions you will face is what to do with your pension plan. You have four basic choices, each with...read more

03/20/02 - Changing Jobs: Smart Moves For Your Pension Plan II

Hopefully, you won't be tempted to take the money and blow it. The advantages of deferral are just too great to pass up. Having eliminated that as...read more

03/14/02 - Changing Jobs: Smart Moves For Your Pension Plan III

The number of people that actually roll over their pension plans from one employer to another is very, very small. Most will find that a rollover...read more

03/07/02 - Changing Jobs: Smart Moves For Your Pension Plan IV

After you have considered all the other possibilities, you will most likely find that your best choice for your pension funds is the IRA rollover....read more

02/19/02 - The Nature of Risk and Concentrated Positions

Finance 101 The market never rewards an investor for any risk that could be diversified away. All risk and return assumptions are based on a...read more

01/08/02 - New Generation of Tax Managed Funds

A third generation of tax managed index funds adds dividend management to capital gains management enhancing the already formidable tax advantages...read more

12/26/01 - Lump Sums and Dollar Cost Averaging

Congratulations! You won the lottery, inherited some money from a distant relative, sold your company, or rolled your pension into your IRA. You...read more

12/21/01 - Back To Basics

As we sit here surveying the wreckage in the recent markets we should review a few basics. If we can keep some fundamental economic theory in mind...read more

12/14/01 - Will Small And Value Premiums Persist?

Long-term data reveals a meaningful small and value premium. Academics take these premiums for granted. Accordingly, we overweight our portfolio...read more

12/14/01 - Fama-French Three Factor Model Part II

The Fama French Three Factor Model finds that stock investors most care about three variables: market, size and value. Each of these three...read more

12/10/01 - Fama-French Three Factor Model Part I

The Fama-French Three Factor Model provides a highly useful tool for understanding portfolio performance, measuring the impact of active...read more

12/01/01 - Contingencies: Planning for Simultaneous Disasters

Every once in a while, a tragedy reminds us that simultaneous deaths do happen. While rare, my experience has shown that few couples have prepared...read more

11/25/01 - Dollar Cost Averaging: Effects of Volatility

A simple exercise turns conventional wisdom on its head. Conventional wisdom held that Dollar Cost Averaging works best with funds or stocks...read more

11/17/01 - How Often Should You Rebalance Your Portfolio

Once you have set up the "perfect" asset allocation plan, you can kick back and relax for a while. But, eventually, you will have to do a little...read more

11/01/01 - Dollar Cost Averaging - The Basics

Dollar-cost averaging has been described as one of the oldest, leastexciting ways of investing. But almost everyone agrees on its validity. It's a...read more

10/28/01 - The Limits of Diversification

Diversified portfolios have held up remarkably well since April 2000, a period many commentators are calling the worst in 30 years. Fortunately,...read more

10/28/01 - Growth vs. Value Investing - Part 2

In our previous article we discussed the underlying theory that propels growth stock investing as a philosophy. Now let's look at the practical...read more

10/22/01 - Is A Recession Inevitable?

When the stock market re-opened on September 17th, the bear came to the party and he ate everybody's lunch! The one-day results were not pretty....read more

10/16/01 - Growth vs. Value Investing - Part 1

Growth investors have had substandard returns when compared to investments in either the entire market, or value investors. Why should that be?...read more

10/15/01 - Wills Don't Always Do the Job

Wills are an important part of estate planning. Every one should have one. But, wills only solve a few pieces of the estate-planning problem. You...read more

10/12/01 - The Value Of Market Predictions

I confess. I'm a news junky. My day starts by browsing CNN, CNNfn, AP, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Miami Herald, and Washington...read more

10/12/01 - Mutual Fund and Tax Efficiency

About this time of year, millions of mutual fund investors begin getting some shocking news. Their funds are going to generate big tax bills for...read more

10/03/01 - Generations of Tax Deferrals On Retirement Assets

Pension plan and IRA beneficiary selection presents special opportunities and problems for account holders. Choosing the right beneficiary could...read more

10/01/01 - 100% Index 100% Of The Time

Index funds are the lowest cost, lowest risk, and lowest tax cost solution to reliably capture the performance of the world's markets. Using...read more

09/24/01 - Fee Only Is The Way To Go

Many "financial advisors" are nothing more than glorified product salespeople. They are paid by commission, and long ago discovered that some...read more

09/17/01 - What Now

Horror, disbelief, sadness, anger, rage, frustration, impotence, depression and fear are the emotions cycle through me relentlessly. I desperately...read more

09/13/01 - The Perils Of Owning Your Company's Stock

Here's a little food for thought: The August 23,1999 issue of Pension and Investments states that that 43.8% of the total assets of the 50 largest...read more

09/10/01 - Growth Stock Investing: A Premier Part I

Growth stock investing is ever popular, even if unrewarding. Growth stock investors are willing to pay more than the current value for a company...read more

09/10/01 - Growth Stock Investing: A Premier Part II

In our previous article we discussed the underlying theory that propels growth stock investing as a philosophy. Now let's look at the practical...read more

09/10/01 - Asset Protection Planning: The Basic Steps

Are you sure you will never be sued? Are you sure that if you are, the courts will be fair? Are you willing to bet your entire financial future on...read more

09/10/01 - Asset Protection Planning: Keeping What You Have

In 1994, 800,000 lawyers filed 14 million civil suits, an increase of 25% over the preceding five years. Seven of 10 adults will be sued during...read more

08/17/01 - Three Mistakes To Avoid

Nostalgic for those days of yesteryear when everything you touched turned to gold? When stocks could only go up, and bond yields were fat?...read more

08/09/01 - A Trip Down Memory Lane

Part one It's hard to go back in time. But, if an investor could, this is what it might have looked like. For the sake of today's exercise we...read more

08/03/01 - Vacation Exchange Rate Arbitrage

Our European cousins are born with a finely honed sense for currency values. They instinctively know where their currency is strong, and flock...read more

08/03/01 - The Fog of War

The fog of war. Back in my Air Force days in Vietnam, whenever the aircrews questioned a particularly inane operation, the Brass always accused us...read more

08/03/01 - Momentum Investing - Greater Fool Theory On Steroids

Although momentum investing can be unusually successful for several months, or even a couple of years, it has proven to be a low return, high risk...read more

08/03/01 - Use Income Tax Reductions To Fund Your Goals

Americans are about to receive some serious tax relief. Tax reduction was a prime concern of the Bush Administration, and the new president got...read more

08/03/01 - IRS Simplifies Required Minimum Distributions

In a sweeping simplification last week the IRS published new Proposed Regulations covering Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) from pension plans...read more

08/03/01 - New Enhancements To Education Funding

No matter what you think of the rest of the tax act, if you are faced with education expense, you should celebrate. Your task just got a whole lot...read more

05/15/01 - How to Become a Millionaire

Who wants to be a millionaire? Almost everybody. Who could be a millionaire? Almost everybody. It kinda makes you wonder why there aren't more....read more

04/18/01 - How Much Will A Variable Annuity Cost You?

It's just about impossible to build a case for annuities that makes economic sense. The most widely sold variable annuities have total annual...read more

04/17/01 - Dare To Be Different

We're Back Diversified portfolios are all the rage. After a short absence they have returned to fashion. Now that the Nasdaq is just about...read more

04/12/01 - Zero Coupon Bonds

Zero coupon bonds are an interesting derivative investment. As we shall see, they are not necessarily a great investment for long-term investors....read more

04/01/01 - Where Are They Now?

I often encounter investors that still believe that the most important criteria for selecting an investment manager is past performance. This can...read more

03/25/01 - Fund of Funds: Perfect Solution or Dangerous Shortcut?

It would be nice to achieve all of your investment objectives with a single fund. At first glance, a mutual fund that invests in various other...read more

03/24/01 - Academic Support for the Use of Index Funds

The rationale for using index funds springs from efficient market theory. The literature, extending back over two generations in support of...read more

03/10/01 - Value Lives

If you haven't noticed, value is back. So much attention has been focused on the collapse of the growth and tech sectors that you might be...read more

01/16/01 - Index Fund Investing

Index funds offer compelling advantages to investors in all markets where they are available. Index funds are the lowest cost, lowest risk, and...read more

01/08/01 - The Beauty of Conversion

The distribution options after the traditional IRA's required beginning date leave more than a little to be desired. As discussed in previous...read more