ANNUITY Q & A

Last weeks’ column generated some great questions regarding annuities. I will try to answer some of the most common here.*​​Q – Why do you dislike annuities? A – I don’t dislike annuities. They have their place in the right situation. I dislike when annuity salespeople sell them inappropriately. Q – In simple terms, what is…

CORPORATE LABOR PAINS

America is suffering through a major labor crisis. I’ve never seen a time like this. Not only are help wanted signs everywhere, but businesses are also proactively asking their customers if they know anyone at all who would like a job. Already many businesses are operating on reduced hours and reduced services due to a…

BEWARE OF “SAFE” OFFERS IN VOLATILE TIMES

When I was a young entrepreneur, everything seemed simple. I paid 5 cents for candy bars and sold them for 10 cents. The math was easy. As you get older, financial numbers get bigger and more complicated. Rates of return become affected by interest rates, taxes and inflation. A persons’ portfolio may have $50,000 more…

INVESTOR EMOTIONS A CLUE TO OPPORTUNITY

Most investors know they shouldn’t try to time the market. Stock markets react to events in ways that are often impossible to predict. The current volatility is a great example. Since the Russian war began, we have had huge swings both up and down on Wall Street, even though the news each day has been…

THE GOOD AND BAD OF FEAR

Human emotions can be good or bad depending on how we respond to them. A very useful emotion is fear. Though unpleasant, fear causes us to be extra cautious and to consider our options for escape if necessary. Fear helps us survive but only if balanced by good judgement. I was in a bank when…