You've read about the SECURE Act and the hidden taxes targeting your family that it contains. Now, while everyone is busy Christmas shopping, and just as Congress is about to leave town, the bill was smuggled into a spending bill, and pushed through the legislature. According to Barron's the bill "means a spate of changes for retirees related to their required minimum withdrawals, the way they use IRAs, and rethinking estate planning options." Reshma Kapadia reports on the bill for Barron's writing: The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement—better known as the Secure … [Read more...]
A Step in the Right Direction for Protecting Investors
The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is finally taking measures to clean up the error-filled reporting on its website that classifies many troubled financial advisors as having "clean" records. The CFP has been relying on these advisors to self-report any bad behavior, and with predictable results that has failed. Many of the advisors, who are mostly brokers and insurance agents, are regulated by FINRA as well. FINRA has disclosed their bad behavior, but CFP has missed the mark. That might finally change. Jason Zweig and Andrea Fuller report at The Wall Street Journal: The … [Read more...]
Minimum Wage Hike is Why Long-Standing California Restaurants Are Closing
Restaurants in Sacramento are closing up shop citing the impending Jan 1, 2020 minimum wage hike in California. Some of these institutions have been in business for decades. The new hourly minimum wage will rise to $13. Compare California’s min wage to the “open for business” state of Utah. The Beehive state has a minimum wage of $7.50 and, guess what else—rising wages. When money is respected, good things happen. That is exactly what’s happening in rich states like Utah. Here's the story of one businessman being hurt by the minimum wage hikes from Fox … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: No Gold/Silver in Safe Deposit Box
A son of long-time subscribers to Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report emailed me last week about a letter his parents had received from their bank branch. Not a phone call to set up a meeting, a letter. According to him, the bank sent the letter to his parents stating that no gold or silver would be allowed in the bank’s safe deposit boxes. There was no explanation for the change in the letter. The note wasn’t from a small local bank on Main Street, USA. This bank is one of the biggest players in the world. Its regional branches extend like tentacles to every street corner … [Read more...]
Trump Era Adds 10,000 Points to the Dow, and Counting
Fox Business's Jonathan Garber reports that on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 28,332.74, and therefore had climbed more than 10,000 points since Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States on November 8, 2016. That's a 54% gain, excluding the Dow's all-important dividends. He writes: The gains show why U.S. markets have become the envy of the world under Trump, who has followed through on his promises of cutting taxes and regulations and rewriting global trade deals in America's favor. By comparison, global exchanges such as Hong Kong’s Hang … [Read more...]
Rich CEO, Poor CEO? Why Fidelity is Number One
You have read about why Fidelity is Number One. Today, I want to point your attention to the massive consolidation happening in the financial services industry, most notably the recent Schwab/TD Ameritrade hook-up. What concerns me is the potential for the customer to be lost in this chaos and whether or not these deals are even worth it. At the end of the day who benefits from more customers? Probably not the customer. This is yet another reason why Fidelity is Number One. It is privately held—guided by a third-generation family member in CEO Abigail Johnson. Forbes just listed … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: Bruins Great Tim Thomas
Congratulations to Boston Bruins great Tim Thomas, one of my all-time favorites, on being inducted this week into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Thomas’ stingy goaltending was the reason the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011. After the Bruins won, he refused to visit the Obama White House, turning him into a polarizing force within the organization. This is what Thomas said he believed in: I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: Bobby Orr During his Prime
Here’s some perspective as to how great legendary Bruins hockey player Bobby Orr was during his prime. “With the NHL more than one-third of the way through its season, young Oilers stars Connor McDavid (this is his age-23 season) and Leon Draisaitl (age-24 season) rank first and second in the league in points,” explains Kevin Paul DuPont in his Sunday Hockey Notes in Sunday’s Boston Globe, “and have built some separation on the field.” If they finish first and second in the league in points, they will become only the 12th pair of teammates to do so in the NHL’s expansion era (since … [Read more...]
This is What Troubles Me About Safe Deposit Boxes
You hopefully read my urgent items on safe deposit boxes and why you should treat your disaster cash like gold. Remember, you have zero downside in being prepared for the unexpected. But, listen-up, it’s also imperative to build and cater your security around your situation. Here’s why. A client emailed me his concerns about safe deposit boxes that you need to read and then apply to your specific situation: E.J., I read about one case where some bank employees pilfered a number of safe deposit boxes and it was difficult to identify the losses as few or no records were available … [Read more...]
Rich State, Poor State Rankings: This One Tops New England
If you like the mountains (summer or winter) then you need to visit North Conway, NH. Becky and I have a cabin in Bartlett just up the road and have spent a ton of time in North Conway even before we had a home in the area. If you’re a skier you have plenty of slopes to enjoy within 40-minutes or less including Bretton Woods—ranked by Conde Nast Traveler as the #6 resort in the U.S. and Canada. This week Stephen Moore and his partners Arthur Laffer and Jonathan Williams released the 12th edition of their annual Rich States, Poor States report. The best-ranked state in New England was New … [Read more...]
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