The Urban Institute said one possible explanation for these trends in debt is that many homeowners traded up during the housing boom of the mids and took on larger mortgages. An unrelated study estimated 17 percent of mortgage borrowers who are close to retirement age owe more than their house is worth, said the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
Other factors might also help explain what's driving the growing prevalence of debt in older Americans. More early baby boomers with thriving careers want to work longer -- so the great incidence of debt among households in their 60s doesn't always mean a higher incidence of retiree debt, the researchers said.
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People in their 60s who owe money, particularly if they have a mortgage, are increasingly likely to retire or start collecting their Social Security benefits later, the Urban Institute found. How old were the Founding Fathers? In fact, if you followed much of the political discourse we have engaged in over the past sever election cycles, we have attributed a lot to them that they might have been embarrassed to hear were they alive today. As a student of 18th century history, I have read with fascination and a little disgust the many comments politicians and others have made about the Founding Fathers.
I found this interesting little article on Slate this morning about the ages of the Founding Fathers. You may be surprised by their ages and look at your adult children in a different light from this point forward. This issue gained traction during the recent Presidential Election. In fact, many commentators have identified the early s, the Reagan years, as the begining of America's growing wealth inequity.
But so far, I have not read any academic studies which have examined the truth of this "problem" nor have I seen any reporting on this that is anything more than anecdotal. Earlier in the week, I was reading the Washington Post Wonkblog and came across a relatively short commentary from Lydia DePillis, an economics writer, on this very issue. She writes an excellent summary of a recent symposium sponsored by the American Economics Association on this very subject.
Early in the article is a hyperlink to the actual papers presented during this symposium. Most of these papers, while academic, are very readable by the lay person. I encourage you to at least read her summary of these papers and their significance to this issue. People are vacationing, Businesses are in slow mode, the markets are anemic, Congress is on vacation thank goodness and time has slowed down some.
What better time to train and make your brain more flexible and more resilient. We are all growing older and it shows in how our brains deal with everyday life. Some of the apps are great educational tools such as the TED Talks App or the Khan Academy App where you can learn something new or take a college level course.
While other apps are designed to train your mind to be more flexible, or enhance or reinforce your memory.
I particularly like the Lumosity app. Anyway, if you own a portable digital device or phone and want to wake up your sleepy brain this August, check out the list of the top 10 Brain Training apps. It is set up as a page by page list. So, you must touch the "next" arrow to move to the next app. I share it with my clients and fellow advisors with the hope that you will pass it along to a young graduate or even someone who hasn't yet graduated but would benefit from insightful commentary on the human condition. This year George Saunders, a noted novelist, gave such a speech on the value of being kind at Syracuse University.
The New York Times published this short speech in its entirity on July 31, Here is the link to the speech: Commencement I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and will pass it along. Many states are busy setting up their exchanges. California is viewed as being in the van in this regard and should have the most robust and largest exchange since it is the largest state following the Federal mandate. New York has created quite a buzz with its statement that policy premiums will be substantially lower than had been anticipated. It seems that health insurance cost are set to go down for most people, something which the critics of Obamacare are none too pleased to see.
While I would never disabuse a client from owning gold if they could only sleep well owning gold this has rarely been the case in thirty years of practice. But if this were indeed the case, I would be recommending that they own the physical shiny stuff not a paper version. So what is gold worth?
John Maynard Keynes once wrote when describing the difference between a speculation and an investment that an investment is an analytical exercise comparing the probable yield over the life of an asset to the price paid today for that yield. Buying gold is very much an exercise in betting what the next person will be willing to pay for it in the future.
It is a price driven exclusively by speculation with no stream of cash flows to be evaluated for investment purposes. Therefore, it is subject to wide swings in price. Everyone who buys or sells gold is a speculator not an investor. What drove those price swings? Rumor and anything else you may care to put at the end of that sentence would suffice. Over the longer term there are many reasons one could give to own gold. In several studies it was found a case could be made for owning it in times of hyperinflation.
How often has the US been subject to hyperinflation — exactly zero times. The study found that owning gold neither hedged unexpected inflation nor provided a currency hedge. I guess the best that one can say about buying gold is that it represents a store of wealth when one has a fundamental distrust of paper currency or a fear of hyperinflation. And if you are one who holds either of these two views, then you should own the real thing and not a paper version.
So, we are sending this second email out to illustrate how ordinary folks are being affected by this issue of digital asset ownership and access. The attached PDF copy of an article which appears in yesterday's NY Times, illustrates the many problems we have right now letting those who will be heirs or those who will care for us when we are incapacitated have access to our digital accounts.
We hope that you will take this issue seriously and call us to discuss making this a part of your estate plan. We do plan with every meeting coming up, whether by phone or in person, to take this issue up with you. It is that important. You are wondering why we would be sending you an email concerning the Kardashians. This is not a practice that concerns itself with the tabloid goings on of celebrities. However, in this case there is something going on which warrants your attention. Apparently, Kardashian senior kept a diary both online and in print.
We all know that diaries are interesting, possibly too revealing and certainly meant to be private. The Kardashian children want to keep the diary private. It is now a matter for the courts to decide. And that brings us to the reason for this post. Most estate plans that we are familiar with and have reviewed contain no mention of digital assets. Digital assets — what are they, you ask? As you can see, you entire online life is considered to contain your digital assets.
And they are at risk. Who will have access to your online life after you are gone? Who do want to have access or no access to your accounts? How will they prove they have the right to access your accounts? Are these assets to remain private or could someone sell them to the highest bidder or make them public. Could non-family members obtain access to them? Would you want them destroyed deleted? How about the rights of Google, Amazon and the other big boys of the digital world to your digital life?
Do you want to give your heirs specific instruction for dealing with control or access and rights to publish aspects of your digital life? Never thought about any of this have you? Neither have we until recently. The average homeowner stays put for about 7 years and then moves on. I just recently came across a new real estate service. Agent Ace provides an unbiased recommendation based on an agent's actual performance, giving the client the best opportunity for success with their real estate transaction.
Agent Ace does not publicly rank agents and only the users know who is recommended. In addition, Agent Ace does not accept advertising from agents or allow agents to edit their profiles. Please check out the site if you are in the market or know someone who is. When we tried to post the commentary on the Affordable Health Care Law Obamacare , we found that the link to the guide was really good no longer went to the guide.
It was a dead link. Sometimes this happens and we never find out why. So we have a new link for you. This one is directs you to a new site that the government set up specifically to explain the law and to give you as a citizen all the information you need to undestand it and make decisions about your use of its provisions. We have spent some time on the site and it really is very helpful. It does a good job of explaining provisions and timelines. It has links to each state and what's happening in each state.
Please use this link when looking for information about the law. Call us with any questions you may have. If your question is one which could benefit other clients or visitors to our site, we will post it and the answer. Here is the working link to the site: There are times I do. In this short 6 minute talk he gives us 10 time saving and useful tips to make this alien device more human friendly. I learned a few neat tricks and I hope you do too. This poll of Americans over the age of 40 examined how well prepared they are for the realities of aging and the need for care as they grow older.
Clients of IFA don't have the luxury of ignoring this reality. We regularly bring up the topic of long term care and how the family will cope with this reality. You may want to pass the attached article along to friends and relatives who may not have had the opportunity to discuss this with their families or their advisors. It is never a pleasant issue to bring up, but it is a reality that too often left unaddressed.
If you have questions of your own, don't hesitate to call on us. We deal with this every day. Long-term care in aging US: We have had two official rounds of this strategy and a third round which was unofficial. This strategy is designed to maintain a low interest rate environment to stimulate further economic growth and development. There has been some argument that QE as it is called has been a failure and will create conditions ripe for inflation to take off.
There has been far more economic commentary that it has been largely successful in its first round and only marginally successful in rounds two and the unofficial third round. The consensus is that QE has at least kept our economy afloat while it gets its legs under it. Joseph Stiglitz is a Noble Prize winning economist and is well regarded in the economics field.
He recently published a short non-technical piece of writing about the introduction of the official third round of QE by the Fed. I thought you might find it helpful in understanding some of what the punditry class has been nattering about of late. But I found this graph published in the National Journal, one of the more respected DC based opinion and news journals which report on doings in DC.
They analyzed , interviews that Scarborough Research conducted into the habits of beer drinkers including their politics and the brews they drink. I have attached the graph for you to check against your own favorite brew and what drinking it tells us about your politics. Hope you find it a fun break from the onslaught of political ads we are enduring. Let me know what you think. What your beer says about you: He examines not only the expiration of these more well-known and discussed tax cuts but the expiration of many other cuts and tax exemptions and rules that Congress put in place to deal with the fiscal crisis of Here it is in its entirety: Mitchell's Post Journal of Financial Planning article: In fact, there are million Google hits on this one topic.
I thought I would share this speech with you. You may wish to share it with the graduates in your life. They also invite some of the most respected intellectuals, writers, artists and visionaries to speak to their employees. They record these lectures and then put them on the web for the public to enjoy. Although I have only tuned in to one of these lectures, I am now hooked. The lecture in question was given by Sheena Iyengar. Iyengar, who is the author of "The Art of Managing all our Choices," is best known for her research on how plan participants are often overwhelmed by the number of investment options in their k plan and as a result make imprudent decisions with their money.
Your Interests First - 10/28/2014
Her lecture at Google dealt with choice and how we are overwhelmed by all of the choices we have in life. More importantly, how to manage these choices. The lecture lasted about an hour. Since we are on the subject of web based education, I have also discovered another site which could serve as a web based university lecture series. Lectures are often linked to other related lectures. I offer one such lecture below about the origin of our human optimistic bias toward life. I hope you enjoy these lectures. Let me know your thoughts on anything you encounter on these sites.
Here are the links: And for two years we have seen the problems in Europe, especially with Greece, derail our stock and bond markets, making it difficult for our markets to get some traction. We have a modest recovery under way and many of the factors which should spell good news for the market are being buried under the avalanche of news about Europe, Germany and Greece.
As you know, I spend a good part of each day reading and researching in economics, investments, global and domestic news which may affect our economy and markets and, for fun, history. History always gives me perspective. I have attached this paper to this email. At the same time, one of my favorite global news magazines, the Economist, published its analysis and prescription for what ails Europe.
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The Economist is a must read for global decision makers and its observations, analysis and prescriptions often turn up in decisions made by the powers that be. I have attached this article as well. While clients age 60 and over resumed receiving statements in the mail in February , those under age 60 have not received statements since mailing was ceased in March For additional information, please read the Social Security Administration's press release.
One is devoted to how the overall tax burden has changed from to the last year for which data is available. It does not have any of the last contentious years from to the present. But there is a note in the chart indicating the effect of tax changes Obama initiated since taking office. The other graph is very interesting to study. It shows it great detail who benefits from tax policy in the US. Broken down by income which is on the left by income threshold you can see who had benefited the most from various deductions, exemptions and credits in the tax code.
It is a real eye opener. It is a simple graphic chart illustrating how the economy has done over the past 3 months and places that reading in the context of what has normally been the case for the US economy historically. If you click on any one of the indicators it brings up further graphic illustration and explanation of the particular indicator and more in depth data. I find it helpful in understanding in one picture what has been going on in our economy. Let me know if you find it helpful. But bear with me. For a very long time I have been attempting to explain to you the difference between working with a broker and working with an advisor like me and Carl.
I have explained that brokers have one standard by which they are regulated and Fiduciaries have a completely different standard. The Broker, or registered representative, must sell you suitable products and the fiduciary must advise you based on what is in your best interest regardless of whether it is in the advisors interest. It has been a difficult concept for most clients to understand. I found this short video on You Tube about butchers and dieticians. It is also clever and fun. When you are finished watching this 6 minute video, I think you will agree that DST is one of the more insane things we do with time.
We have all watched gold do its gold thing these past few years. It really helps with understanding how gold has worked its way into our hearts. Have a wonderful holiday season filled with love, good cheer and no worries! We have been whipsawed repeatedly by good news then bad news.
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We have seen the spectacle of our political leaders sounding and behaving more as children in a playground tussle than displaying any sort of maturity and sound judgment. So, I thought I would round out the year with some thoughts on the markets first, then in a separate email, a bit about the European situation. Almost daily we are assaulted with dire warnings of the impending collapse of the Euro, The Greek economy, the European economy, The Global economy and the American economy all because of what is happening in Europe.
We are regularly told this collapse has been averted, postponed, solved and fixed: It is all so confusing to the average American. I am sure that when we were going through the financial crisis of late and early that Europeans had a hard time understanding what it had to do with them and why should they be concerned and why should they, their governments and economies be involved. Well we are slowly discovering that we truly do live in a global village where what happens in a small country with a pitifully small economy can dramatically affect all of us.
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There is also a side bar which does a creditable job of explaining many of the financial terms we hear bandied about in this discussion of what is going on. I hope you will find it useful over the next few months as we watch the unfolding drama in Europe. I have mentioned this site before as one which provides an open forum for some of the best economic commentators and economists in the world to discuss current events and global economics.
Here is his commentary on the impact of consumer confidence on our economy. Debt Scare Everything is getting better. No, no, I know. It seems as if everything is getting worse again. The Economic Cycle Research Institute, which has forecast the last three recessions, says another recession is a sure thing—and imminent, to boot. This first part is more a summary of what has happened in the markets over this past quarter and some hopeful comments about the future.
There is a growing body of evidence and observation which is not very hopeful about the immediate future of the global and US economy. The second part of my commentary takes a look at this. For some this is a large amount for others much smaller amounts are being held. I just want to assure you that none of you own a Money Market Mutual Fund to hold your cash. You may want to alert friends and family that it may be a good idea to look for alternatives to the Money Market Mutual Funds they may hold which are paying close to Zero interest rates.
If they are with a brokerage firm they should request that their cash be moved to FDIC insured accounts at the firm. If they hold money market mutual funds directly with an investment firm they may want to withdraw this a seek a bank savings or bank money market account for these monies.
Call me if you have questions about this issue. Although it has never happened in our history, many had expected something like this to happen. On Sunday here in America which because of the international dateline is Monday in Asia, the market did react. As I write this the Dow is down more than 5. Continued in the pdf below I hope you found it helpful.
This dashboard will show you in a simple graphical way just how we are doing in our national economic life. It looks at most of the economic indicators that indicate how we are doing getting out of this recession. The dashboard is a snapshot of current conditions in the market relative to their typical-long term ranges. If you hover over many of the numbers and boxes or click on the Historical Details, you will get further information and interactive graphs. I found this dashboard very helpful in putting much of the hyper active news we see and hear each day into perspective.
Let me know what you think of the dashboard and if it answered some of your questions. Economic Indicators Dashboard - May 31, Recommendation of a really good book! A legacy, if you will, of the core values of the older generation passed on to the younger generation. Frequently, my clients will be worried about the values of their children and grandchildren. Our modern hyper-kinetic society seems to drown out values of strength, courage, integrity and justice or fair play. The boomer generation, of which I am a part, has not done a very good job of establishing a value system which may stand the test of time.
The book my friend recommended to me is an excellent start. It is available on Amazon. Oh and one more thing. This book may seem to be directed at parents of young children. We are all in some sense children looking for a way to develop a value system. If you decide to purchase and read this book, please let me know how it has affected you and your family.
I sent you an article last time about the role of the dollar as the reserve currency and how the dollar and its value affects our and the world economy. In this installment I found an excellent article in the LA Times of this past weekend about the persistent problem of unemployment in the US economy. There has been a lot of ink spilled about the unemployment rate in the US and what and who is responsible for it. Depending on your ideological bent you may blame Obama or US Corporations, China and India, Outsourcing, Education, Undocumented Emigrants, or any number of conspiracy oriented factors.
US corporations have been using labor saving technology to increase productivity for many years and it has helped the US to remain very competitive in the world market place. You may also not have blamed a dearth of consumer spending in the wake of the recession and the rather spectacular increase in the savings rate of the US Consumer from less than 1. It has been as high as 6. St Louis Fed Report: The world will not end as some have predicted because the Treasury has some gimmicks it can deploy to stave off Armageddon until about July 1 or perhaps as late as August 1.
Meanwhile back at the ranch Washington, DC everyone is posturing and beating their chests about the other guy and the intransigence of the political opposition in coming to terms with our debt and deficit and the state of the economy and who is to blame. So, in an effort to provide a little sanity to this carnival show, I have decided to start a little educational series of emails about our economy, the Dollar and its position in the world of finance and the debt and deficit. Please read it and, if you like, send your comments to me about it.
This announcement was typically covered in breathless fashion by the media. What was not always emphasized in the news coverage is that this is far from an actual downgrade. The announcement actually said that Treasury securities would be given a AA rating the credit rating of Japan rather than the current AAA the highest credit rating, which is also enjoyed by France and Germany if the federal budget deficit is not addressed within two years.
Fear of a Downgrade Where are your tax dollars going? Tax Receipts Federal Government Shutdown? I found an interesting little slide show that bullet points the effects of a shutdown rather graphically on the Huffington Post and a Washington Post article about the same which cites the Congressional Research Service. The Federal Reserve has come under sharp attack over the past three years for inaction, over-reaction, dithering and interventionist behavior. In other words, no matter what the Fed has done it is being vilified by some faction of the political establishment.
These three articles looks at the quandary in which the Fed finds itself: I hope you find them as enlightening as I did. If you would like to discuss these issues with me, feel free to call me or email a response to this email. We have all watched the ongoing drama in Wisconsin and seen it spill over to other states. Their benefits are the result of years of ongoing contract negotiation and development that had sought to rectify an imbalance between public and private benefit structures which for a long time favored the private sector.
So, it was surprising that I stumbled across the attached article published today in the McClatchy Newspapers.
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It presents the efforts of its staff reporters to find evidence that the pay and benefits of public employees is a major cause of the insolvency of local and state governments. What they found will surprise you. Please read the article and let me know what you think. I have placed the direct link at the bottom of my info below. Just click on the hyperlink and it will open your browser to the specific page on my newly revamped website.
I would love to hear from you about our new website which is still be tweaked. The New York Times wrote an excellent balanced article about the findings of the commission. The sad part of the work of the commission is that just as our political atmosphere has degenerated into partisan warfare despite the kumbaya moment at the State of The Union , so too has this same partisanship affected the release of the report. Most of the commissioners wrote and agreed to one report but several republican members wanted to issue their own take and grind their own axes.
So, instead of a unanimous consensus analysis of the causes of the crisis, we have two versions and a third which blames the entire crisis on the push for homeownership. The report is more than pages and is scathing in its indictment of financial institutions, regulators and politicians. Both the Bush and the Obama administration are taken to the woodshed.
If we accept this notion, it will happen again. Causes Of The Financial Crisis. There will be a reduction in the employee side of the social security tax payment 2. Elimination of the free loan from age 62 to age 70 3. Benefit suspension strategies for beneficiaries are eliminated 4. Paper Social Security checks are being retired. Four Changes In Social Security.
Everyone got something out this horse-trading session in the Lame Duck Congressional session now winding down. Clearly no one on the extreme left and right of the political spectrum was happy with it. The Middle class got its tax cut but then so did the wealthiest families along with an Estate Tax Gift. Those of work got an unexpected extension of the unemployment benefits and workers in general got some payroll tax relief.
Especially, since the Republicans ran on a Tea Party platform of fiscal discipline and deficit and debt reduction. Hmmm… we will have to see how this plays out over the next two years. Two Year End Little Gifts for you. I hope you feel it is worth reading. Just as when I was a kid we had a Short Film that was usually funny or at least extremely interesting followed by the Feature Presentation. So, too I am giving you a Short and a Feature Presentation. The highlights have made news since the middle of November when the two co-chairs, a Republican and a Democrat, released an appetizer in order to encourage agreement among the warring factions on the commission.
I earlier reported to you on this release of the highlights. You may agree or disagree with their findings shared and recommended to the Congress and the President by 11 of the 18 members. But it makes sobering reading and it should. I fervently hope that this report will spur real and probably painful change in the way we tax and spend.
Since these cuts have an immediate impact on you and the taxes you pay and in some cases the investment and business decisions you may have to make in and after, I think it has been a worthwhile effort to send these communications out to you. I have attached another article in this series for you to read if you wish. In it the Bloomberg Business Week journalist, Ryan Donmoyer, explains the six areas of dispute between Obama and most of the Democrats on the one side and the Congressional Republicans on the other.
Donmoyer likens the confrontation to solving a puzzle with six pieces. What is apparent from his article is that there is little room for compromise with partisanship and ideology dominating the discussion. We are going to be subject to a lot of political spin over the next few weeks as we get closer to the expiration of the Cuts on December And it is worthwhile to at least be able to keep the truly important aspects of this issue in focus so that we can judge whether the Republicans or Obama and the Democrats have our best interests in mind.
Want to have a little mindless fun? Try balancing the federal budget in ten minutes or less. Site publishers can then use this data to create defined audience segments based on visitors that have similar profiles. The real difference lies in how those brands are perceived by others as a result of the image or message that they convey. Generally, however, the term applies to people born from the mids to the late s.
Members of this generation witnessed the introduction of computers, cell phones and the Internet. They were also the first generation in which divorce was common and in which both parents frequently worked outside the home , source: Consumer Credit Risk Management http: He compares the limited appeal of heritage sites such as Colonial Williamsburg to the perpetually attractive power of a Disney theme park and reveals how consumed nostalgia shapes how we cope with accelerating change.
Today nostalgia can be owned, collected, and easily accessed, making it less elusive and often more fun than in the past, but its commercialization has sometimes limited memory and complicated the positive goals of recollection Consumer Behavior Dynamics: A Casebook Consumer Behavior Dynamics: When I now look at my clients I am searching for the underlying wants and how to fulfill them.
I run a day trading course for beginners and found too that if I stick with what I think the clients need versus what the clients want I don't get participants in my day trading course The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: Rather, if you had a good experience with the product, you will have much more desire to buy it again next time Pearls before Swine: Financial Wisdom from the Past - Ignored in the Present http: Some examples of internal influences that impact consumer buying behavior are: In this section, we discuss attention, levels of attention, and factors affecting attention and we describe several marketing strategies that can influence consumers attention , cited: Consumer Behavior, Custom read here victoriouschristianlife.
America's Financial Advisor http: Marketing researchers use statistical methods such as quantitative research, qualitative research, hypothesis tests, Chi-squared tests, linear regression, correlations, frequency distributions, poisson distributions, binomial distributions, etc. Scholar's Edition LvMI http: Most of the measures summarized in this third edition were originally published in marketing journals and marketing-related conference proceedings Consumer Psychology for download epub Consumer Psychology for Marketing.
Gain an understanding of where else your customer is shopping and buying. Eating Patterns in America -- Our annual report, Eating Patterns in America, is the only source of more than three decades of trended information that provides in-depth insight into actual consumption behavior — and, more importantly, how it is changing , e. Drunk Tank Pink download online download online. Surely, making airline reservations at any time of day or night is a convenience that many consumers value. Because internet reservations save commissions that airlines would have to pay travel agents, airlines can offer even greater value by cutting the price of fares purchased on the internet ref.: Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business ilovekosmetik.
As such, marketing psychology degree programs are not universally offered at colleges and universities.