It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. This is what author Charles Dickens said of eighteenth century London and Paris around the time of the French Revolution. These same words could also be used to describe the current environment for investors in America. The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 15,000 threshold this year and remains not too far from its record high. This has been an astonishing turnaround of about 140% from the depth of the f…

Bringing awareness to excessive and unnecessary costs and fees has often been a subject of my writings, as it affects many portfolios and so few investors are aware of the “true costs” they are incurring.  On April 23, 2013 PBS Frontline aired a hard-hitting expose´ called The Retirement Gamble.  I don’t know if it will be broadcast again, but you can click here to see a replay from the PBS website. If you are short on time, skip ahead to about…

E*Trade, known for its talking baby TV commercials, aired a different TV commercial recently stating that a typical family could pay $155,000 in hidden fees in their 401(k) over their lifetime.  The ad prompted viewers to Google “401k 155k” to learn more, so I did.  I found an article discussing the basis for the claim. The loss of $155,000 due to Wall Street fees is a staggering number, but that’s not what I found surprising.  The fact th…

The NCAA basketball tournament (otherwise known as March Madness) tipped-off last week beginning three weeks of basketball frenzy that some have compared to a national holiday.  It’s certainly one of the best sporting events of the year, but it’s more than that.  Some studies have shown that when March Madness arrives, there is a huge productivity loss across America as many workers get caught up in the excitement. Like millions of people, I fill out my…

Lately, one of the hottest topics in financial planning concerns maximizing one’s social security benefits.   In fact, it’s hard to find an industry publication without an article on the subject.  Even the mainstream financial magazines, such as Money Magazine and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, have made social security claiming strategies one of their favorite subjects. Most of these articles talk about maximizing social security benefits. In the title o…