This one number will help you more accurately plan for retirement — thanks to the Secure Act.

A lump sum on a 401(k) statement may give investors a false sense of security about their future retirement income.

A $100,000 or even $200,000 balance in a 401(k) plan might seem like a lofty amount of money — and it is — but it may not mean as much in your retirement as you think.

As part of the new Secure Act, plan sponsors will have to show Americans how their account balances translate into monthly income. The new retirement law, which was passed in December, aims to provide investors with a clearer picture about whether or not they’re on track to retire. Continue reading →

One thing Trump (did NOT) brag about in his State of the Union…

his plans to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

His tax cut isn’t helping the economy, but it did blow a hole in the budget that he’d fill by gutting entitlement programs

(So, two nights ago), Donald Trump (delivered) his third State of the Union address. (Like) his past speeches … we know (that his) speech (was) filled with a number of exaggerations and outright falsehoods — especially when it comes to the economy.

Since he signed the bill two years ago, Trump has heralded the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as this administration’s greatest accomplishment, declaring that it is “helping everybody so much.”

But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Continue reading →

Everything great in the world is done by neurotics; they alone founded our religions and created our masterpieces. ~ Marcel Proust

I had a professor in college who always said, “It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.“

My father died thinking that the worst thing in the world were socialist democrats like FDR and Obama.

He was distracted into thinking that way, much the same way that our nation was led to believe Oswald killed Kennedy. That way you see, whether it’s socialist democrats or crazed gunman, we all have a villain. Someone to pin all of our troubles on. In the meantime, the real bad guys escape responsibility and thus the plan works. Continue reading →

“It’s Madness… MADNESS!”

Although the repo market is little known to most people, it is a $1-trillion-a-day credit machine, in which not just banks but hedge funds and other “shadow banks” borrow to finance their trades. Under the Federal Reserve Act, the central bank’s lending window is open only to licensed depository banks; but the Fed is now pouring billions of dollars into the repo (repurchase agreements) market, in effect making risk-free loans to speculators at less than 2%.

This does not serve the real economy, in which products, services and jobs are created. However, the Fed is trapped into this speculative monetary expansion to avoid a cascade of defaults of the sort it was facing with the long-term capital management crisis in 1998 and the Lehman crisis in 2008. The repo market is a fragile house of cards waiting for a strong wind to blow it down, propped up by misguided monetary policies that have forced central banks to underwrite its highly risky ventures. Continue reading →

NOTE: Recently we published a column which lay out the historical reality of own precious metals – chiefly gold and silver. Said column stated quite pointedly that, “The dollar has lost 98.2% of its purchasing power since 1900, while gold has become almost 54 times more valuable.” …and yet – the brokerage house STILL (eight years since the publication of the following) avoid YOUR safety and welfare like the plague. I guess that there is not enough commission it it for their benefit. ~ Ed.

Clients want alternatives in their IRAs — but advisers’ hands are tied … The firm polled 1,000 people nationwide, along with 365 financial advisers with at least $10 million in assets under management. Two out of three advisers polled said that investing in alternative assets can help build wealth for investors, and 80% them said that their clients have expressed interest in using alternative assets. Meanwhile, about three out of four Americans familiar with retirement accounts are interested in adding these investments to their individual retirement accounts. Continue reading →