Part I of this blog explained how the disclosure loophole in the fiduciary duty standard can swallow the duty entirely. Below is one way to protect yourself if you are working with a fiduciary or plan to work with a fiduciary advisor. What matters most to investors is their portfolio’s performance. Most investors don’t care […]
Tag Archives | retirement savings
Is the Fiduciary Duty Enough? The Disclosure Loophole
The Department of Labor has recently delayed its fiduciary duty rule for retirement advisers. I wrote favorably about the proposed rule because it puts investors’ interests first and not the profit interest of the advisor. A financial advisor without a conflict of interest seemed right to me because people are on their own to secure […]
Reverse Mortgage Basics
Helene, a soon to be single retiree, lamented the other day that she wished she had saved more. She didn’t have a pension and she was delaying claiming Social Security because she had longevity in her genes. She felt she was going to have to sell her condo (on which she still had about a […]
New Fiduciary Duty for Retirement Advisors
The Obama Administration recently finalized a rule to impose a fiduciary duty on financial advisors that offer retirement advice. This duty requires due care, loyalty, and utmost good faith when advising a client. This new rule puts investors’ retirement interests first and not the profit interest of the advisor selling a financial product. The rule […]
Paying Off Student Loans Faster or Saving
Should you pay off your student loans faster and then save or vice versa? Use these six tips to determine which course of action best suits you. This discussion assumes you have excess cash available after making the minimum student loan payments. These tips also work for other debt you want to repay faster, such […]
Financial Moves I Should have Done in my 20s and 30s to be Retirement Ready
I was asked the other day the financial moves I wish I had done in my 20s and 30s to get ready for retirement. I thought wow, what a great question! After some soul searching I arrived at three things I wish I had done better and three things I think I did right when […]