It is all a product of greed…the current economic crisis, I mean. But whose greed? The lenders? The creators of mortgage backed securities? The home purchasers who were unable to meet their obligations when their adjustable mortgage payment schedules reset? Yes. All of them, and a few more. Families who borrowed money to buy homes [...]

All of us who have been paying attention to the health care debate have been hearing the same arguments over and over. I believe the one value of the oft repeated protests is that  Washington does know it has a problem. Many of the voters are very  upset with what they are attempting to do. [...]

Actor John Voight was interviewed on television this afternoon. He read what I thought was a very powerful quote. Then, I heard who it was he was quoting. A man who has become one of my favorites, Mr. Thomas Sowell, who is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Here [...]

A review of 10 of the largest variable annuity providers by Symetra Life Insurance found widespread increases in the fees charged to customers, reductions in guarantees and benefits offered under many riders and sometimes the elimination of an entire guaranteed living benefit offering according to Paul Menchaca in a brief article in financial-planning.com magazine, a [...]

Is there really a financial payoff to working with a financial advisor instead of going it alone? Well, it will depend somewhat on the advisor and on the individual going it alone, but Charles Schwab did some analysis of the many participants in 401(k) plans which they provided custody. The upshot was, “401(k) participants who [...]