tag:searchlightcrusade.net,2024:/mt//feed/financial 2024-04-26T11:35:23Z Movable Type 4.21-en 41 1 41 tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2475 2024-04-22T14:00:00Z 2024-04-22T13:01:50Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ If you've been around the financial planning business any length of time, you've likely run into the saying "The biggest risk is not taking one." It is endemic to all financial instruments, indeed, all investments, that return is the reward... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2425 2023-07-17T14:00:00Z 2023-07-17T16:05:35Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Continued from Part 1: Preparation and Part 2: Process This is about the long term consequences of the decision to buy or not to buy a home, and economic benefits analysis into whether you should want to buy. In order... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2011://3.4812 2014-12-30T15:00:00Z 2016-08-09T22:56:50Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Figures don't lie, but liars sure to figure - and filter, and slant, and just about anything else you can think of. Someone sent me a link to this article in the Wall Street Journal of all places. It... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2012://3.5065 2012-02-04T16:30:00Z 2012-02-04T18:34:27Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Something I feel the need to point out when people talk about current issues with the real estate market, for instance, housing prices fall yet again, mortgage rates hitting new lows yet again or the Federal Reserve indicating a need... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2007:/~searchli//3.2627 2007-01-27T18:00:10Z 2007-09-23T03:53:24Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I've seen some fairly intelligent people completely fail to understand the value of estate planning, how easy it can be, and what it can accomplish. To start with, there are some issues that happen when you die. The first is... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2565 2006-12-20T18:00:48Z 2007-09-22T18:50:11Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Most of what you read on financial planning in the media is garbage, but here is one of those occasionally useful pieces: IRA Rollovers Could Have Tax Implications. Here's the idea: You keep company stock in your qualified plan aside... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2544 2006-12-03T18:00:10Z 2007-09-22T17:51:24Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ A while ago I talked about Passive Asset Allocation as a way to beat market return as a strategy. So I'm going to write a bit about what it is, why it works, and how to do it. Passive Asset... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2530 2006-11-23T18:01:22Z 2007-09-22T03:30:18Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I am profoundly lucky in that I read "I Will Fear No Evil" in high school. Not an assignment, I just like to read, and Robert A. Heinlein has always been one of my favorite authors. A very few pages... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2524 2006-11-18T18:01:09Z 2007-09-22T03:19:06Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ what happen when 401K leave blank on beneficiary Nothing unless you die, and it's not covered in your will or other documents. Then the state's intestate code takes effect. Each state has a law for how the estates of... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2454 2006-10-07T17:00:00Z 2007-09-21T19:34:38Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I have a confession to make: When I was doing financial planning, I didn't put enough emphasis on Disability Income Insurance. I was hardly alone in this; Disability Insurance is one of the two most undersold financial products there is.... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2446 2006-10-02T17:00:00Z 2007-09-21T19:10:24Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Of all the investments out there available to be made, the 529 is neither best or second-best, but it is right up there near the top. Back when I was actively working in the financial planning business, it was one... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2444 2006-09-30T17:00:24Z 2007-09-20T05:04:02Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Found an annuity article in the local paper with an error so glaring that I had to debunk it. Here's the article:Income for Life And here's the critical error, conveniently in the first two paragraphs: Interested in annuities? The type... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2421 2006-09-16T17:00:29Z 2007-09-20T04:14:43Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ It shouldn't surprise anyone that there are things you should do before you make your first investment. The SEC, NASD and all of the various other financial planning organizations all explicitly list three things that should be in place in... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2404 2006-09-05T16:08:28Z 2007-12-03T22:48:18Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Life Insurance is something that nearly every adult should have, and almost every adult who buys goes about purchasing it the wrong way, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons, and buys the wrong policy. Is that an indictment... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2369 2006-08-12T17:01:03Z 2007-09-20T01:42:31Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ One of the most discounted investments available is the annuity. An annuity can be thought of as the opposite of a life insurance policy. Instead of creating an lump sum of money, an annuity liquidates one by providing you instead... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2353 2006-08-03T17:00:41Z 2007-09-18T04:17:21Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ For being the most popular investments in the country, many people have a "black box" picture of mutual funds. Money goes in one end and more money (usually) comes out the other. Mutual companies in general are a very old... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2317 2006-07-10T17:01:35Z 2007-09-18T02:55:40Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Wall Street loves fear and greed. Every time some bad news hits, a lot of benighted investors sell investments that were basically solid. Causing the price they can get for their investments to drop (higher supply, lower demand). Every time... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2269 2006-06-04T17:00:44Z 2007-09-16T19:39:27Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I've run two prior articles this week on the theme of Long Term Care, one on Long Term Care Issues, and one on Non-Tax-Qualified versus Tax-Qualified, and Partnership Insurance Policies. Now, I'm getting down to nuts and bolts of what... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2267 2006-06-03T17:01:27Z 2007-09-16T19:31:27Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ (Part 2 of a three part Series on Long Term Care) I wrote in the previous column a lot about long term care issues. This column deals with the insurance policies available for long term care. There are two major... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2237 2006-05-14T17:01:19Z 2007-09-16T18:15:49Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ It seems I can't hardly turn around in the investment world without a paean to Jack Bogle, who preaches the advantage of the index fund. Mr. Bogle's reasoning goes something like this: Looking at the world of mutual funds, relatively...