Category: Finance

Fewer workers these days are lucky enough to have a pension plan. The rest of us save for retirement through our employers’ contributory plans like the 401k, or a 403b or Individual Retirement Account (IRA). When we retire or change jobs, we are responsible for managing these accounts ourselves or hire financial advisors to do so. Advisors come in all stripes: brokers, bankers, insurance reps, planners, or independent money managers. But they all fall in two broad categories: advisors who adhere to the “Suitability standard” and ones that are held to the higher “Fiduciary standard.” Advisors who are Fiduciaries are required, quite simply, to put their clients’ interests above their own. It means avoiding potential conflicts of interest or disclosing conflicts where they exist. Trades should be placed with the…

It was Christmas morning, and our kids, bright-eyed and way too bushy tailed, were all agog at the twinkling lights and the shiny presents under the tree. Soon, both were working into a present-opening frenzy, with wrapping paper and bows flying. Each barely registered the gift itself, so anxious were they to move to the next one. The whole process was repeated at the extended family gathering later that day. Surveying the wreckage after it was all over, I turned into Mom Scrooge. We went to a gift exchange format with the extended family, and were more judicious with our gift giving within our immediate family. ‘Tis the season, you say, to spread good cheer throughout the world, and spoil the children… yes and no. Americans spent an average of…