Investing
Should retirees take the pension, or 'the lump?'
Jennie L. Phipps
Mar 18th 2010 at 10:00AM
Filed under: Retire, Investing, Retirement Advice
Given the choice, should a soon-to-be-retiree take the monthly company pension or the whole pension amount at once – known as "the lump?"Entire taverns can be polarized by this question.
The guys down at Buster's Hideaway are staunch in their belief that taking the lump will separate them and their money from their soon-to-be former employers -- a good thing in their view because they fear that their employers might renege on their monthly obligations.
I have a brother-in-law who is among those at Buster's facing this decision and he would really like to go for the lump – he's none too trusting of the company he's worked for more than 30 years. But he can't get beyond the nagging fear that he'll take the money and lose it.
At the risk of overstepping my familial bounds, I researched and wrote about the question for Bankrate.com, where I'm a contributing editor. In my Bankrate report. I tried to present both sides of the question fairly because that's the journalistic thing to do. But I'll tell you here, if my husband and I had to make that decision, I'd be lobbying hard for the monthly pension – despite the fact that my husband is an accountant for an insurance company and an expert in financial management.
A real estate crook in priest's clothing
Charles Feldman
Mar 13th 2010 at 6:00PM
Filed under: Real Estate, Fraud, Investing, Mortgages, In the News
We've come to this: An ordained Orthodox-Catholic priest in Indiana has pleaded guilty to federal charges of defrauding real estate developers and even churches of almost $3 million, according to the Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky. "Father Barney", aka Byron Canada, apparently ran two South Bend corporations which he used to defraud borrowers over a five year period beginning back in 2004.
The "good" priest reportedly collected fees from real estate developers, businesses and, yes, churches for what was supposed to be advanced payments for loans his companies would later make, but never did. Just to gain that extra ounce of trust, "Father Barney" would make sure he was decked out in his clerical clothing when meeting his soon-to-be victims.
Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos on how to protect against investment fraud
Lan N. Nguyen
Mar 11th 2010 at 1:45PM
Filed under: Fraud, Investing, In the News
When Bernie Madoff confessed in December 2008 that he had been running a Ponzi scheme for decades, everyone was surprised, but not Harry Markopolos and his team. Markopolos, Frank Casey, Neil Chelo and Mike Ocrant had been tracking Madoff's boldface lies for 10 years. They had, in fact, reported Madoff five times to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Despite detailed complaints, no action was taken. No one was listening.
Well, everyone is listening now. Markopolos, a full time independent fraud investigator after years in the securities industry, took time out of his busy schedule promoting his riveting account of the whole sage, titled "No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller," to chat with WalletPop about what investors can do to avoid the next smooth talking charlatan.
Financial guru James Montier on how to overcome bad investing habits
Lan N. Nguyen
Mar 4th 2010 at 12:45PM
Filed under: Investing
Jobless claims were down last week. The Dow is above 10,000 points. Wall Street bonuses are bigger than ever. It seems like we're finally waking up from one of the worst recessions in recent memory. But don't get too optimistic, says James Montier, author of "The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How Not to Be Your Own Worst Enemy" (Wiley). That's what got us in trouble the last time. Montier, who is a member of the asset allocation team at GMO, London, and a leading authority on behavioral investing, takes time to tell us how being a contrarian can be healthy for our bank accounts.
Financial Literacy Month preparation quiz
Tom Barlow
Mar 3rd 2010 at 5:00PM
Filed under: Investing, 101 mortgages
April is Financial Literacy Month, so we thought you might benefit now from a test of your acumen. This will help you determine what topics you need to bone up on for the month ahead, so that by the time April 1 rolls around, you'll be ready to prove your financial literacy. Here are 10 quick questions to probe your knowledge:
A. Warren Buffett is
- The most popular family restaurant in Northeastern Ohio
- Public entitlement programs supported by the Warren Court decisions
- The billionaire chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
- A device to rid your yard of rabbits
Twitter Fight! Suze Orman puts Robert Kiyosaki in his place
Zac Bissonnette
Mar 3rd 2010 at 2:30PM
Filed under: Investing
The First Lady of Personal Finance, Suze Orman smacked down charlatan Robert Kiyosaki, who rose to fame with "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," which is, as I've argued in the past, one of the worst books of all time. Normally I would link the title to the Amazon.com page but I won't in this case because I don't want any of you to buy it.Here's how it went down. Kiyosaki tweeted:
I can't believe this lady @suzeormanshow. No way in hell she believes what she teaches.
Suze's response?
At least @theRealKiyosaki I DID NOT LEAD PEOPLE DOWN THE PATH TO LOSE ALL THEIR MONEY IN REAL ESTATE AS YOU DID. SHAME ON YOU
You can see Kiyosaki's lame responses here -- which isn't even worth printing.
California wineries selling at market bottom prices
Tom Barlow
Mar 2nd 2010 at 3:45PM
Filed under: Real Estate, Investing
Have you always dreamed of owning a boutique winery in Sonoma Valley where you could play host to Paul Giamatti and others willing to fork over a jeroboam of cash for your pressings? Now might be the time to shop, if actually selling the wine isn't in your immediate plans. The decline in sales of high-end wines has put downward pressure on the price of California wineries.
Rare Nintendo cartridge sells for $40,000
Josh Smith
Mar 1st 2010 at 2:00PM
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Technology, Investing
An 8 bit video game is a far cry from the HD resolution games on the market today, but for one lucky couple in Kansas found that one game in their 8-bit gaming stash is worth enough to purchase the entire catalog of Xbox 360 games. The lucky seller, Dave (whose last name wasn't used), tells Yahoo that he found "Stadium Events" sitting with a collection of games in his basement and recently sold it on eBay for $41,300, three times that of the last copy sold which made headlines last month.
Robert Kiyosaki taken down by CBC
Zac Bissonnette
Feb 25th 2010 at 4:30PM
Filed under: Make Money Fast, Investing, Celebs & Money
CBC's Marketplace takes a long look at Robert Kiyosaki, the bestselling "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" author whose seminar series is traveling around Canada making tons of money -- and offering little of value to consumers in return.
Using a hidden camera investigation, CBC found that a $500 get rich in real estate workshop, which is not presented by Kiyosaki himself but rather by a Kiyosaki-branded coach, consists largely of a sales pitch for "advanced courses" that cost $12,000 to $45,000.
Using a hidden camera investigation, CBC found that a $500 get rich in real estate workshop, which is not presented by Kiyosaki himself but rather by a Kiyosaki-branded coach, consists largely of a sales pitch for "advanced courses" that cost $12,000 to $45,000.
'Holy Grail' of comic books sets million dollar record
Bonnie McCarthy
Feb 24th 2010 at 2:00PM
Filed under: Family Money, Investing
The first edition of "Action Comics," featuring Superman's debut that sold for 10 cents in 1938, set an out-of-this-world auction record Monday, leaping to an astonishing $1 million dollar value in a single bound, or online bid, as the case may be.
Sold to an anonymous, private bidder by an anonymous, private New York seller, Steven Fishler, co-owner of the US auction website Comic Connect, told BBC News that the super sale happened within minutes of putting the comic book up for auction. "The opportunity to buy an un-restored, high-grade Action One comes along once every two decades. It's certainly a milestone," said Fishler.
Even if Canada's hockey team wins gold, Olympic coins not a worthwhile investment
Aaron Crowe
Feb 23rd 2010 at 2:00PM
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Investing
The quarter-page ad in the New York Times caught my eye: "Final Year Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Silver Dollar Just Released!"For as low as $24.95, I could have a silver dollar from Canada -- with a hockey player on it. Since I couldn't make it to Vancouver, it looked like an Olympic souvenir worth having. Or was it?
Is your prepaid tuition plan safe?
Sarah Coffey
Feb 22nd 2010 at 6:00AM
Filed under: Money College, Family Money, Investing, School
Some states are cutting back on promised funding for their prepaid tuition plans, leaving parents and grandparents footing the bill for uncovered costs.Many states offer prepaid tuition plans, sometimes called 529 plans, as a way for parents and grandparents to save up for tuition costs. The plans allow parents to lock in current college tuition rates, and promises to cover the difference between current and future tuition.
But the recession is causing severe funding shortfalls in the plans. States like Alabama are now trying to reneg on paying the whole tuition bill, instead possibly forcing schools and families to make up the difference.
For now, states are paying tuition as promised, but some are using the fine print in the contracts to try and get out of paying tuition as agreed.
How can you avoid being burned? You need to read the fine print.
Five state plans are backed fully by the state. Others, including Illinois and Maryland, are required by law to consider covering the funds if there is a potential shortfall. But states including Alabama, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Tennessee are backed by the funds' assets, which means if the funds run dry states don't need to rescue them.
U.S. core consumer prices drop for first time in 27 years
Tom Barlow
Feb 19th 2010 at 3:00PM
Filed under: Budgets, Recession, Investing
Those concerned that the ultra-cheap money brought about by rock-bottom rates at the Fed could lead to rampant inflation can hyperventilate a little less after today's report that core consumer prices actually dropped for the first time in 27 years in January, down 0.1%. After including fuel and food, which are more erratic, the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers still went up only a modest seasonally-adjusted 0.2%. This translates into a yearly rate of 2.6%, not adjusted for seasonality.
Mutual funds pioneer John C. Bogle shares investing tips for today's economy
Lan N. Nguyen
Feb 17th 2010 at 2:30PM
Filed under: Investing
Ten years after the success of the book "Common Sense on Mutual Funds," Wall Street legend John C. Bogle revises this classic to address the current financial crisis. The founder of The Vanguard Group and creator of the first index fund takes time out of his busy schedule to talk investment strategy for 2010.Why did you feel the need to update this book?
I did it for a couple of reasons. One, the first edition was written within a month or two of the market high, after two fantastic decades in which the stocks produced 17% annual returns, totally unprecedented in American's financial history. It's not to a great surprise that the next decade did not do that. The next decade, I think the number is about -1% a year on the SP500 taking into account dividends. So it seemed like it was a good time to do a retrospective.
It also gave me a chance to reaffirm the investment ideas in the original book. As I mentioned in my introduction, I told the reader I had two objectives: 1. to help make him or her a more successful investor, and 2. to chart a course for change in the mutual fund industry. On the first one, just about every word in that book has been borne out by experience over the last decade Yes, stock returns would be much lower. Yes, bonds should play a part in any intelligent investment program. Yes, safety is important and minimizing risk is important. Yes, asset allocation is important. Yes, be sure and keep costs at a minimum, keep tax efficiency at the maximum. Don't chase past returns. And treat mutual funds as long-term investments rather than short-term speculation. Every single word of that has come true and has been validated by the experience of a very difficult decade. So in a funny way, I am awarding myself a batting average of 1000.
It also gave me a chance to reaffirm the investment ideas in the original book. As I mentioned in my introduction, I told the reader I had two objectives: 1. to help make him or her a more successful investor, and 2. to chart a course for change in the mutual fund industry. On the first one, just about every word in that book has been borne out by experience over the last decade Yes, stock returns would be much lower. Yes, bonds should play a part in any intelligent investment program. Yes, safety is important and minimizing risk is important. Yes, asset allocation is important. Yes, be sure and keep costs at a minimum, keep tax efficiency at the maximum. Don't chase past returns. And treat mutual funds as long-term investments rather than short-term speculation. Every single word of that has come true and has been validated by the experience of a very difficult decade. So in a funny way, I am awarding myself a batting average of 1000.
New vogue in refinancing: cashing in, not out
Amy Pyle
Feb 16th 2010 at 2:00PM
Filed under: Banks, Borrowing, Debt, Home, Real Estate, Recession, Investing, Mortgages, Refinancing
After years of viewing their homes as piggy banks to be plundered at will, Americans are finally putting some money back in, at least when they're refinancing.According to new figures compiled by mortgage-funder Freddie Mac, in the fourth quarter of 2009, one-third of borrowers who refinanced their homes actually added cash to the deal to lower their mortgage balances -- a record number since the discount lender started collecting the data in 1985. On the flip side, just 27 percent of people refinancing their homes pulled cash out, which is the lowest number on record.
