Friday, September 18, 2020

Does the SEC’s new regulation ‘Best Interest’ protect us or Wall Street firms?

 Nobel Prize economics/finance investment strategy

Paul Samuelson, head MIT Economics Department, was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Economics and advised various presidents. While discussing stock market strategy with John Bogle and Warren Buffett, he recommended the simple but winning strategy of buy and hold low cost index funds with few withdrawals. That was it. Wall Street has never been happy with this advice because the owners cannot make money with it. They need movement—buy and sell activity. But buy and sell activity may create extra taxes for you—NOT them. So making use of a tax-FREE account has great benefits for you—NOT them. It is impossible for them to make money following Buffett’s advice in a tax-FREE account. There is no movement and there are no tax consequences upon withdrawal/rebalancing. This is why no advisor recommends buy and hold investments at Vanguard. But Vanguard has salaried advisors when you need one—NO product ‘pushers.’

Use the smart strategy: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Your-Investment-Advisor/dp/1518690963

 

Opportunity of a lifetime?

Investors are weighing the leveraging strategy like never before. Investors may earn 6-8% by buying high dividend growth stocks with 2% margin loans. Using borrowed money to invest is a risky strategy but with money so cheap, it is our banks’ current high-profit center. In fact, banks are again engaged in a dangerous game of holding risky assets off their balance sheets in variable interest entities and using our money (Fed funds) to invest in high-risk corporate loans. Some banks are holding $ billions in collateralized loan obligations. Like the CDO that defaulted in 2007-8, CLO are like putting lipstick on a pig. Ratings for the top layer of loans hides the poor commercial loans beneath. Following the “Greed is Good” ideology, banks have again put our legitimate bank system at risk. Like the young man who killed himself because he misunderstood leveraged trading on the long odds, our bankers are taking profits before they have to kill their consumer banks. Unlike personal leverage, we taxpayers will have to bail out our legit banks and send the criminals home with fat bonuses like last time. A safer strategy may be taxable muni bonds which have recently paid over 2%. States and cities need cash to replace falling revenues.

Stick with the Best: https://www.amazon.com/Vanguards-Top-Ten-mutual-funds/dp/150073909X/

 

Does the SEC’s new regulation ‘Best Interest’ protect us or Wall Street firms?

The terminology in the new standard of service gives financial institutions a legal advantage: "informed consent" disclosures are so obtuse they won’t be understood. Firm lawyers write them. The regulatory agency’s test for “informed consent” puts the onus on us and creates a “buyer-beware” trap that will make it difficult for investors to prevail in a FINRA hearing or suit. If we accept the advisor’s recommendation, we agree to any misleading and omitted statements involved. In effect the firm’s “Best Interest” becomes our “best” interest because they will say we should have researched all the conflicts of interest they have before the purchase. It becomes our problem when the conflict was not disclosed because we didn’t even know about it. We couldn’t ask. SEC examiners will not be present when our advisor fails to tell us all the conflicts. Most advisors don’t even know all the conflicts that exist between the firm and its customers. How could advisors disclose them to us? For instance, advisors don’t know about the flow trading deal the firm has with some vendors. They don’t know about the ‘hair cuts’ on securities. They don’t know the stock lending deals. They don’t know the factors in margin loans. They don’t understand the firm’s hype. They don’t know the special deals or kickbacks firms receive for selling certain products and services. Advisors aren’t fiduciaries. The real Fiduciary Rule was cancelled by Trump as soon as he took office.

Best Interest rule is not the Fiduciary Rule: https://www.amazon.com/Fiduciary-Rule-BEST-dont-anymore/dp/1530980275

 

Which is best for you—pension or lump sum?

With companies dropping like flies in today’s economy, you may be faced with this decision. This is not an easy decision because you don’t get a second chance. With most firms, you are usually all in or all out. Usually the financial contract is set in stone. And now is a hard time for workers especially. If you are facing the choice, there are many factors in your decision. First, will the company be around to make its payments. Second, if your company buys an annuity now to make the payments for them, the amount will lower now because interest rates are lower. Third, if you take the lump sum, will you pay someone to manage your investments or will you know how to buy an annuity yourself. Fourth, can you rollover the pension and wait to buy a better annuity. In my case, I found a fee-only planner who walked through the options as part of a complete financial plan. Since that person did not sell products nor could gain from our decision, I was happy to pay the single fee. We got unbiased advice based on all the factors involved.

Be prepared: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Retirement-Spending-Plan-enough/dp/1461084016

 

Learn how to take your RMD required minimum distributions

The IRS requires us to take withdrawals of a certain amount from our pension, IRA, 401k, 403b and any other tax-deferred accounts starting after age 70. But will we have enough to last, how do we invest our money, how much can we spend safely? We can create tax-FREE income from our IRA and reduce the forced withdrawals. We can take advantage of the miracle of compounding: $100,000 becomes $500,000 in 15 years. We can create an investment plan for 30+ retirement years. We can self-insure and self-fund all your financial needs. We can be ready when Social Security cuts benefits in 2034.

Consider 17 options: https://www.amazon.com/What-your-RMD-much-spend/dp/1718946716

 

 

Are we better off today than 4 years ago?

Average income is down. Unemployment for low-skill workers is up above 10%. Wealthy have more wealth. Fewer taxes are being collected. Budget deficit hits $3 Trillion for first time since WWII. Consumer debt rises again. "14% of Americans say they have wiped out their emergency savings since the onset of the pandemic and 11% have borrowed money to cover emergency expenses." Congress’s millionaires have decided that workers will not go back to work if $600 of unemployment benefits are continued even when their jobs are gone. Since benefits have ended so have job-seeking re-training programs. Evictions stand ready to beat workers even lower or push them into the streets. Some food banks do not accept food donations since they don’t want to infect the distribution volunteers with virus. Robots take more jobs: cut pay. Automation vs workers has changed cost-effective balance. Health care costs rise. Workers lose health coverage with jobs. Even when a test is “free” it isn’t. We deserve better!

Prepare for the future: https://www.amazon.com/Handling-Emergencies/dp/1537636707

 

What if my heirs can’t handle a lump sum?

Heirs who cannot handle your money have options that don’t’ require a high-cost trustee. Typically the wealthy will hire an institution (bank) as trustee to dole out the inheritance for living expenses. But some of these arrangements are tricky and taxed heavily. And what if you can’t afford to pay a lawyer for the trust and bank and investment fees for an heir’s lifetime? Are there viable options? Perhaps a special annuity will help: an immediate annuity that’s non-cancelable. In effect, the individual with spendhrift behavior or addiction will receive a check periodically for the rest of their life and can’t get more than that no matter what they do. Insurers won’t budge. Heirs can’t spend it all or be bullied by an abusive spouse or be swindled out of their total principal.

Consult a fee-only estate planner: https://www.amazon.com/Annuity-Decision-Tree-questions-answers/dp/1546454497

 

 

 

**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************

 

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—do we really want ‘low-IQMobster?

 

Philly DA: we have an “authoritarian dictator."

 

Dictator feared telling the truth: “There’s going to be great death!”

Dictator: Virus is Dem “hoax” & “just disappear

Dictator’s advisor: “bring martial law if lose

Dictator: If I lose; I win with Supremes

Dictator: “There has to be retributionkill for kill

 

How Govt wastes our money: Congress gives 3.7 Trillion to the wealthy

Trump “peace” breakthrough: F-35 fighter jets to UAE’s for past relations with Israel

We taxpayers are paying for Pompeo’s events to booster his personal brand: criminal

Election timing: UAE and Bahrain already communicate and engage with Israel

 

Fed “printing money like crazy”: “foreigners increasingly unwilling to fund our deficits

Senate lays itself off with pay: we pay when they DON’T work: why not the rest of us?

GOP health care plan “all ready’ to be announced but no one can discuss it

 

PO turns away money-making shipments since mail slowdown clogs PO: votes delayed

 

 

SCAMS/SPINS:

Trump took $4 millions from medical fund for NY firefighters hurt in 9/11 event

Trump promised virus tests would be free: insurers’ own billing too complex: $2,718 lab

Trump fires up his virus crowd: "Now I can be really vicious," more deaths 200,000+

Trump’s old white lawyer: virus life-saving lockdown is like slavery—Barr taking drugs!

 

Trump pays secret ‘TrumpYouth’ to spread propaganda media: no mail-in; no virus; etc

Trump: take a third term as president because he is 'probably entitled' to it: dictatorship!

Trump’s FDA virus vaccine ‘experts’ conflicted: if virus is ‘hoax’ is vaccine worth it?

Trump again claims vaccine will be “free to all Americans:” Insurers not heed before.

 

 “Law and order” president breaks law in Utah in-door no mask rally: hospitalized

This Sunday recorded highest one-day increase in global cases: bars/cafes/event spikes

Trump’s judge says PA virus lockdown unconstitutional: 300,000 dead by Nov 3

 

AG Barr says we are going down the path to socialism: police state necessary now

Trump’s judge has decided the Trump can end humanitarian protections 

Police hide/erase body-cam footage when they kill: so what’s the point of body cams

 

Taking temperature is false security: people with COVID may have no symptoms

Older kids with NO symptoms bring virus home and infect family: need masks, washing

Drug pushers want $10,000 for remdesivir treatment: science exposed overcharge; now $3,100

TX GOP manipulates virus numbers for politicians who fear Trump: deaths result

 

TX GOP blocks county from sending mail-in voting applications to 2 million voters

Trump’s RNC and NJ GOP sues to stop mail-in election in NJ: PO’s delay=no vote

 

GOP Election Division rejects over 35,000 mail-in ballots in recent Florida primary

Trump’s PO sending out misinformation postcard on mail-in voting process

Trump now using Constitution to stop NJ from avoiding Trump mail-in ballot slowdown.

Trump gets 774,000 FL voters off the rolls: his court bans former inmates from voting

Will we all need to go to the streets like Belarus to end dictatorship in Jan 2021?

 

Sports without cable subscription: you may already have access to some games

5G may be slower than 4G: so many variables we don’t control make speed slower.

Boeing execs in charge of bad design defend it: training on new system “not necessary”

How to Spot a Fake Whisky: ways to protect yourself from being duped.

 

MyPillow Lindell claims new cure for virus: oleandrin: Trump provides marketing forum

Long-lost friend contacts you on Facebook: fake friend message asks for info/money

Par Funding caught in fraud high-interest loans to biz; using entities to evade regulations

Navient student loan class-action suit gives $500,000 to lawyers; nothing to students

 

ITT Technical Institute’s student loan lender PEAKS caught using unfair practices

Remington Chase CA Knightsbridge caught stealing $9 million promised movie interest

Dalio king of hedge funds lost 19% and clients, staff arbitration; sells optimism

Financial services firms failing to disclose disciplinary history on their Form CRS 

 

Disinfectants that DON’T kill the virus: antibacterial soap kills bacteria only

 

ClearPath Lending caught with false, misleading, and inaccurate statements

Lauren Wing CA caught buying commissioned CDs without permission

Patrick J. Knox PA caught taking client list to another firm

 

Is it a scam?  Check AARP scamline 877.908.3360.

 

Check IRS: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/dirty-dozen-part-1-taxpayers-should-be-on-the-lookout-for-these-scams

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/dirty-dozen-part-2-thieves-work-all-year-to-scam-taxpayers

 

Jobs

Biden fails to offer health care for all and infrastructure jobs: tax policy $0 if no job.

FedEx hiring for holidays: temp jobs may result in unemployment in Jan

Using ‘religious beliefs’ talk to discriminate: TX law upholds biz discrimination activity

 

Who owns your account now?

Wealthy have many tax haven and citizenship options: US life with no taxes.

Virus tests: which are accurate; what do they tell you?

Favorite brands without the marketing hype and expense: Kirkland Costco value

 

 

Miracle:

Two women get 19 families to buy GA acres for safe living for Blacks: leave harassment

Ice Age cave bear found in the Russian Arctic with soft tissue intact: quick freeze

42 sq mile chunk of Greenland’s ice cap broke off fjord Arctic: lookout Miami

 

Trump’s troops couldn’t find special weapons to hurt protestors in his ‘Bible stunt’

Pope seeks ‘liberate’ Virgin Mary from Mafia: Church helped Mob ‘fight’ communism

 

IAN

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MontclairNJ   07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

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