So many new clients come to me already owning an annuity or several annuities, and they do not understand them or know what types of fees are in them. I went back through my e-mails to clients and looked through the types of questions I get about annuities, and thought I would answer some of them here by explaining some of the concepts around annuities. An annuity is a product… Read More
Yesterday morning, I attended the St. Louis Chapter of the Financial Planning Association meeting to hear a presentation titled “Modern Portfolio Theory 2.0.” It was excellent, no surprise, because it was presented by Michael Kitces MSFS, MTAX, CFP®, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, CASL, whom I often describe as a “walking brain” when discussing him with peers. He is also the author of a reference book I own, and to which I… Read More
Unexpected financial expenses seem to crop up at the least opportune time. The car needs a new transmission, you lose your job, or a parent or child becomes ill, and you need to reduce your hours at work in order to care for them, resulting in an unexpected reduction in income. All of these expenses, and others, can drain savings quickly. Why have an emergency fund? You can resort to… Read More
At the 2025 Acropolis Investor Social — a wonderful evening, only to be topped by this year’s Social — I presented the chart below. The colors were slightly different, and at the time, I hadn’t included the S&P 500 or the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index. But the message was clear: pockets of speculative excess were forming in unusual corners of the market. I began by revealing Bitcoin. Over the final… Read More
