Category Archives: Investor Protection

Dividend Investing vs. Variable Annuities

Posted on March 7, 2013 by investsense

Excellent analysis of problems with variable annuities from the “Seeking Alpha” web site . Only thing missing is discussion of the use of inverse pricing on VA’s annual fees, producing windfall for VA issuer at expense of VA owner. “Seeking … Continue reading →

Posted in Investment Portfolios, Investor Protection, Portfolio Construction, portfolio planning, Portfolio Planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Wealth Accumulation, Wealth Management, Wealth Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CommonSense InvestSense: REAL Wealth Management 2019

Posted on February 22, 2013 by investsense

I originally ran this series back in 2013. The series has proven to be among the blog’s most popular posts. So we are going to update the original posts and re-run the entire series. Today we address the ongoing “wealth … Continue reading →

Posted in Investor Protection, Portfolio Construction, portfolio planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Retirement Planning, Wealth Management, Wealth Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

3 (and a half) Common IRA Mistakes to Avoid

Posted on November 8, 2012 by investsense

Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) have proven to be a very popular investment option.  When set-up properly, IRAs can provide investors with greater flexibility and overall wealth management opportunities than traditional retirement accounts such as 401(k) and 403(b) accounts. That said, … Continue reading →

Posted in Asset Protection, Investor Protection, IRA, Retirement Plan Participants, Retirement Planning, Wealth Management, Wealth Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Avoiding the “Missing the Ten Best Days” Ruse

Posted on July 7, 2012 by investsense

Stockbrokers and investment advisors sometimes employ the “missing the best days in the market” ruse to convince investors to stay in the market, even when economic and market indicators suggest a more defensive strategy.  In some cases, advice is simply to preserve … Continue reading →

Posted in Asset Protection, Investment Fraud, Investment Portfolios, Investor Protection, Portfolio Construction, portfolio planning, Portfolio Planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Retirement Planning, Wealth Management, Wealth Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Active Management Value Ratio™- Revealing the Undisclosed Cost of Actively Managed Mutual Funds

Posted on June 25, 2012 by investsense

Despite overwhelming evidence that actively managed mutual funds generally underperform passively managed index funds, the evidence indicates that most investors continue to purchase and hold actively managed funds.  Even when an actively managed fund does outperform its relevant index, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Investment Portfolios, Investor Protection, Portfolio Construction, portfolio planning, Portfolio Planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Retirement Planning, Wealth Management, Wealth Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Simple Step to Better Protect Pension Plan Participants

Posted on April 23, 2012 by investsense

Reviewing the reported trillion dollar losses that investors suffered during the 2000-2002 and 2008 bear markets, I cannot help but wonder how much of those losses were preventable, especially for 401k investors. 401k plans are increasingly opting for participant directed retirement plans … Continue reading →

Posted in Investment Portfolios, Investor Protection, Portfolio Construction, portfolio planning, Portfolio Planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Retirement Planning, Wealth Management | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sunlight Is the Best Disinfectant

Posted on March 12, 2012 by investsense

A previous InvestSense white paper discussed one question every investor should ask their financial advisers whenever investment recommendations are provided-“Why?”  The new InvestSense white paper, “Sunlight Is the Best Disinfectant,” provides nineteen more questions that investors should ask to better … Continue reading →

Posted in Asset Protection, Investment Portfolios, Investor Protection, portfolio planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Wealth Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bigger Than Madoff?

Posted on March 3, 2012 by investsense

The new InvestSense white paper, “Dirty Little Secrets: Protecting Investors and Fiduciaries Against ‘Black Box’ Investment Fraud,” provides information and advice on how to avoid the often subtle and overlooked problem of “black box” asset allocation/ portfolio optimization plans.  Based … Continue reading →

Posted in Asset Protection, Investment Portfolios, Investor Protection, Portfolio Construction, portfolio planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Wealth Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Special Alert-Barron’s “America’s Top 1000 Financial Advisors”

Posted on February 21, 2012 by investsense

I am, and always have been, a huge fan of Barron’s.  It is a great resource for investors and those having interests in the financial services industry. However, the “America’s Top 100 Financial Advisors” supplement in the February 20, 2012, issue has to … Continue reading →

Posted in Asset Protection, Investment Portfolios, Investor Protection, Portfolio Construction, portfolio planning, Portfolio Planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Retirement Planning, Wealth Management, Wealth Preservation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The One Question Every Investor Should Always Ask

Posted on February 10, 2012 by investsense

This week I had two referrals that prompted this post.  In each case, I was asked to provide a pre-investment suitability analysis for fiduciaries involved in the cases.  One case involved a trust for two children whose parents had died.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Asset Protection, Investment Portfolios, Investor Protection, Portfolio Construction, Portfolio Planning, Retirement Plan Participants, Retirement Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment