All entries by this author

Navigating Structured Products

Aug 25th, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: Investing

by Brian Harris, Senior Editor, Dimensional Fund Advisors In recent years, structured products have gained favor among retail investors in Europe and the US. Investment banks promote these securities as sophisticated tools to help investors manage downside risk, enhance returns, or achieve other investment objectives. Sales have grown briskly since 2006, and despite a decline [...]



What the new credit card law means for you

Aug 21st, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: 3rd Quarter (Age 40-60)

Connie Prater – FoxBusiness.com Credit card users can expect the most dramatic changes in credit terms, interest rates and fees in decades now that most major provisions of a new federal credit card law have gone into effect. The new normal for credit cards is more transparency and easier-to-understand terms, but at a higher upfront [...]



Big Employers Estimate Health-Care Costs Will Rise 8.9% in 2011

Aug 20th, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: News

By Katherine Hobson – Wall Street Journal A survey of big employers finds they expect their health-care costs to rise nearly 9% next year and plan to share some of that burden with employees via higher premiums and higher out-of-pocket limits. The survey included responses from 72 members of the nonprofit National Business Group on [...]



Another Threat to Economy: Boomers Cutting Back

Aug 17th, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: 4th Quarter (Age 60+)

By MARK WHITEHOUSE – WALL STREET JOURNAL America’s baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—face a problem that could weigh on the economy for years to come: The longer it takes for the economy to recover, the less money they’ll have to spend in retirement. Policy makers have long worried that Americans aren’t saving enough [...]



Employee allegations of excessive 401(k) fees gain ground

Jul 29th, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: Featured Articles

A ruling by a judge, who in one case said Edison International did ‘substantial’ harm to employees by not negotiating lower fees from the firm running the 401(k) plan, may bolster other lawsuits. By Walter Hamilton, Los Angeles Times – July 29, 2010 For decades, high fees have quietly but steadily eaten away at the [...]



Fallen soldiers’ families denied cash as insurers profit

Jul 28th, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: News

Survivors given checkbook accounts, while carriers retain the assets in their corporate accounts; ‘turning death claims into a profit center’ By Bloomberg News July 28, 2010 The package arrived at Cindy Lohman’s home in Great Mills, Maryland, just two weeks after she learned that her son, Ryan, a 24-year-old Army sergeant, had been killed by [...]



Investors in commodity ETFs getting ‘eaten alive’

Jul 23rd, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: Investing

Average Joe smacked by contango, pre-rolling, and Wall Street sharpies; profiting off ‘the dumb money’ The following article from Investor’s News is an eye opener. It is so easy to think investing is easy – think again. And, enjoy reading this article and take heed. Like so many investors in the spring of 2009, Gordon [...]



Father of Modern Finance Weighs In

Jun 3rd, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: Featured Articles

Eugene Fama guests on CNBC. This is ironic. Fama and other progenitors of the Effecient Markets Theory are generally maligned around the Wall Street world but here he is invited back to continue to advocate for capitalism. This is an important interview in terms of content. Please enjoy listening.



Power Grab

May 27th, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: Book Reviews

“The goal of Obama’s power grab is to grab your power: your wealth, economic liberties, and personal freedoms. You aren’t falling for it any longer. And this is causing Obama and his allies to become more desperate, and to push harder, to steal your freedoms faster. Events and the American character have conspired to bring [...]



The Financial Impact on You of Renewable Energy

May 27th, 2010 | By Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® | Category: Featured Articles

Some may wonder why we would be posting a story about renewable energy on a site that is dedicated to Investor Education for Main Street America. It is precisely because there is a huge financial impact on Main Street America if we continue down the current path of forcing the consumption of energy that is [...]