Posts tagged as:

fiduciary responsibility

Making the Financially Clueless More So

June 29, 2010

By now, most of my regular readers know what I do not like in the world of financial products. The annuity galls me (a mix of insurance and mutual funds that doesn’t do either well), the ETF (which mimics the indexed mutual fund but allows you to trade it just like a stock and pay [...]

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The Financial Croupier: Hidden 401K Fees

June 17, 2010

What would you do if you knew how much you were paying in fees to the retirement plan you use? Not the fees to the mutual funds you invest in. Those are, for the most part, your decision. Unless of course your 401(k) is not-so-good, stocked with mediocre funds or too many options. I’m talking [...]

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The Suitability Standard

June 1, 2010

The Securities Industry is governed by several standards. I mention the fiduciary responsibility that you expect when you are put in a position of vulnerability, and this is at the heart of what a fiduciary must consider when recommending any sort of investment. It suggests that you are trusting the experience of someone with more [...]

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Timing is Everything, Unless

April 13, 2010

We all assume that once your 401(k) contribution is deducted from your paycheck, the process of investing is instantaneous. This is largely due to our personal finance experience with banks. It seems that it takes only minutes for a bank to draw money from your account, but days in which to post the money. So [...]

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What Your 401(k) Plan Sponsors are Discussing

April 7, 2010

If you are dutiful investor in your retirement future, you have already set-up your 401(k) plan, make regular contributions and have spread your choices across a diverse set of investments. If that is the case, you may not be the norm. In fact the norm is scaring a great many investment professionals who have an [...]

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The Changing Face of Your 401(k)

March 18, 2010

2008 will simply not go away.  It’s unfortunate really and although I have suggested over the years that our long-term memory could stand an upgrade, the reasons for what occured in the financial markets is unlikely to happen for another five years (although the potential fallout in 2012 in the bond markets is definitely troublesome).  [...]

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Could 401(k) Success Depend on an Advisor?

March 5, 2010

I have throughout the years, discussed the need for more fiduciary responsibility from the plan sponsor and the company itself in the crucial steps an employee takes on the road to retirement.  Admittedly, the whole scheme behind a 401(k) is to cost as little to the employer as possible to operate and for the plan [...]

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The 401(k) Match: Getting Optimistic

February 10, 2010

At this point in time, any news seems to be good news. And when it comes to the return of the matching contribution on the 401(k), the news is greeted with a kind of relief. Finally, we are getting back to business, some have suggested. CNN even went so far as to suggest that this [...]

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Skin in the Game: Is Investing in Clients Worth the Risk?

January 22, 2010

A recent article in the New York Times focused on a start up mutual fund crossed my desk recently. The article, written by Stuart Elliott, dealt with the advertising agency Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners in New York, part of MDC Partners. While Mr. Elliott normally deals with the advertising industry, this particular article offered [...]

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Your Company’s Stock as a Matching Contribution

January 12, 2010

Last week on MomsMakingaMillion, one of the the hosts, Gina Robison-Billups grabbed hold of one of the tips about how your 401(k) plan is structured: don’t own too much of your company’s stock in your retirement plan.  This is not a new problem for investors in these sorts of defined contribution plans. And even though [...]

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