Without Congress wrangling over some large piece of legislation, May of 2011 seems a good deal quieter than this time last year. Financial regulation was wending its way through the legislative process, and one of the issues being addressed was whether there should be a uniform fiduciary standard for all financial advisors. As the first article below details, that’s still an open question, though we hope the SEC will ultimately make the right decision and insist upon a uniform fiduciary standard. The financial planning tip of the month was driven from recent personal experience dealing with hospitals, doctors and insurance companies. Thankfully, everyone is on the mend, but the process taught us a few ways to minimize costs that I thought would be useful to pass along. The question of the month was driven by something that we’ve been facing for several years now – paltry yields on CDs. In … Continue reading
September 2011 Newsletter
The weather has turned pleasant here in Atlanta in the last week or so, and that has coincided with the beginning of what may be a systematic approach to European debt problems. Still, as with most political issues, the ultimate outcome is uncertain. While that uncertainty continues to exist, expect to see further market volatility. With that as preamble, I thought it would be useful to revisit the question in the first article below of what would trigger the unwinding of defensive positions in portfolios. One key to understanding our thought process is that we try to quantify likely market returns as opposed to relying on vague ideas of what the market might do. In the financial planning tip of the month, we delve into two pending legislative issues that will likely impact most investors. For both issues, industry associations we believe represent consumers well are on one side of … Continue reading →