Finally….confirmation of what we’ve known all along.
According to I-Pension LLC, 27% of 401k participants did not even open their fourth quarter 2008 statements.
At this point, the media chorus usually chimes in with their “how can you blame them” nod to human frailty.
And that brings us squarely in front of the major roadblock to successful investing:
Behavioral […]

In which we compare and contrast the pragmatic tax policy of a world class economy with the ideologically driven tax policy of another such economy.
Both China and the U.S. stock markets tanked last year, but this year China has come roaring back to life….while we continue to tank in response to the incoherence of the […]

Loyal subscriber Johannes Grad has challenged me to explore financing options in very expensive housing markets, such as the San Francisco Bay Area where he plans on becoming a first time buyer.
Even though the national median house price has dropped to the $170,000 range…that is little comfort in a market where the median price is […]

Subscriber Mikell Lawrence asked if I would offer my views on the mark-to-market controversy.
This is a timely request, as there is now consensus momentum toward modification of this self-inflicted wound, and its close cousin, the up-tick rule on short selling.
The Tick-Tocks of the Up-Tick
The up-tick rule, in place before the SEC succumbed to terminal stupidity, […]

Well….that headline should bump up our subscriber base.
Sorry…it’s not as racy as it sounds.
This is the term of art for a life estate in the family home resale market in Italy.  In France, they are known as “en viager” sales.
And all of these would be a variant on the reverse mortgage that we discussed in […]

An alert reader of this blog has just sent me a link to a very thoughtful and provocative article that debunks home ownership.
Be sure to check out the full length article, “5 Reasons Renting Still Beats Buying” by Jack Hough, posted March 6, 2009 in Yahoo Real Estate.
In response to his five major points…
1.  Houses […]

The big dogs are starting to pile into gold…
….as the world’s welfare democracies continue to trash their paper currencies by running their printing presses overtime.
This includes some of the smartest investors who had the foresight to bet against the sub-prime bubble. See the Wall Street Journal’s, “Bearish Big Investors Catch Gold Bug“(3/9/09, page CI).
So why […]

I found a lost dollar bill the other day, wedged under the car mat when I began to vacuum the interior.
Then I faced the task of how to inject this new found capital back into the economy.  It was enough to buy the new McDouble cheeseburger on McDonald’s dollar menu….and it was enough to buy […]