Domestic equities closed down 14.5% on June 29, 2010 from their April 23rd high. That’s a significant decline. Of course, advisors tout sophisticated (and very expensive) asset allocation and diversification strategies[...]

In our role as financial advisors (financial actualizers?) some of the greatest value we can deliver is helping clients to truly make a material and meaningful difference in the social issues they personally value. Such [...]

Guaranteed income for life! This is the marketing cry of the insurance industry, and emotionally it has a lot of appeal. The soothing comfort implied is so enticing that there are actually proposals from the Obama admini[...]

Top Ten List of Misleading Statements — Are You Guilty or Are You Beyond Reproach? In the columns I’ve written so far, we have covered some pretty heavy-duty topics about ethics and integrity to build trust with o[...]

I recently had the displeasure to have to terminate an agreement with an advisor we have been working with for the last year or so. I had to terminate him for ethical reasons, but he didn’t understand those reasons. Yo[...]

Most financial advisors offer advisory services that cause them to have a fiduciary relationship with either some, or all of their clients. Many advisors toss this fiduciary term around in a rather cavalier manner when m[...]

Aristotle is often credited as the originator of the law of causality. Essentially, he was distinguishing the difference between being able to prove the cause of an observation versus merely observing an outcome from dif[...]

In last month’s column (December, 2009) I closed with a New Year’s Resolution for you that outlined the premises of true integrity. That resolution was: I hereby resolve to build a practice that is beyond reproach[...]

Legislators and regulatory agencies are building momentum to require that brokers be held to the standard of a fiduciary under the auspices of consumer protection. As a consumer advocate, I applaud both the idea and obje[...]

TITLES: Stop the Retirement Rip-off: How to Avoid Hidden Fees and Keep More of Your Money; Stop the Investing Rip-off: How to Avoid Being a Victim and Make More Money; and The Four Pillars of Retirement Plans: The Fiduci[...]