The new Department of Labor rule to protect investors was supposed to go into effect today. It would require any financial advisor giving you advice or selling you products for your retirement accounts to put your interests first and act as a fiduciary. But it didn’t happen. The DoL has spent the past seven years… read more
Can you afford not to have a good financial advisor?
March 15, 2017
Posted in: Financial Planning, Investments, Retirement Planning
Some people are hesitant to hire a financial advisor because they know the advisor will get paid and they aren’t sure what value they may receive. A couple of major investment firms have done studies to try to quantify the value of a financial advisor and the results may surprise you. Vanguard is a huge… read more
Frank Named a Top Advisor by Barron’s
March 12, 2017
Posted in: In the News
In the March 6, 2017 issue of Barron’s magazine, they published their annual list of America’s Top 1,200 Financial Advisors. The feature also ran in Barron’s sister publication, the Wall Street Journal. They break the rankings down by state and Michigan had 30 advisors including Vintage’s Chief Investment Officer and Founder, Frank Moore. The list includes… read more
Investor Protection Rule Gets Trumped
February 8, 2017
Posted in: Fee Only, Financial Planning, Investments, Retirement Planning, Vintage News
Less than two weeks after taking office, President Trump directed the Department of Labor to review implementation of a new rule to protect investors. The DoL’s fiduciary rule, first proposed in 2010, would require brokers, insurance agents, financial planners and others that give financial advice on retirement plans to put their client’s interests first. Wall… read more
Is Your Retirement Plan on Track?
January 9, 2017
Posted in: Financial Planning, Retirement Planning
The New Year is a great time to review your retirement plan, review your prior year progress, and determine any changes or goals for the upcoming year. Update Your Assumptions As you look ahead to the future, your retirement plan should reflect today’s low interest rates and relatively expensive stock prices. The ten-year US Treasury… read more
When DIY Makes Sense
December 16, 2016
Posted in: Fee Only, Financial Planning, Investments, Retirement Planning
Back in the 1980’s my wife and I bought our first home. It had been built in the 1950’s and, like any older home, needed some repairs and updates. Since we’d spent most of our savings on the house down payment, we didn’t have much money. So when it came to the home repair and… read more
Jack McCloskey Quoted in Wall Street Journal
December 7, 2016
Posted in: College Funding, In the News
Jack McCloskey was featured in a Wall Street Journal article this week, titled “Is Starting a 529 Worth It?” Jack answered a few questions about 529 Plans that are available as a tax advantaged way to save for college costs. See the article at the WSJ site or in pdf form.
Surprise!
November 9, 2016
Posted in: Financial Planning, Investments
Surprise! The pollsters and pundits were dead wrong on the presidential race. Wall Street doesn’t like surprises and the initial reaction was to sell stocks. Overnight, professional traders sent stock futures plunging nearly 5% as it became clear that Trump could win. That knee-jerk reaction to political, rather than economic, news was costly as stocks… read more
Frank Quoted in New York Times
November 2, 2016
Posted in: Fee Only, In the News, Investments, Retirement Planning, Vintage News
Frank Moore was quoted in the New York Times in October in an article titled, Red-Flag Time: Your Broker Offers a Can’t-Miss Sales Contest. The article discussed how it is difficult for consumers to determine whether or not to trust their financial advisor. Frank shared one of the recent cases we’ve seen where brokers sell… read more
Is it Time to Trust Brokers?
October 17, 2016
Posted in: Financial Planning, Investments, Vintage News
The big Wall Street brokerage firms/banks seem to run in a cycle of abusing their customers until there’s a crisis or crash and then facing additional regulation aimed at putting a stop to their less than ethical activities. The more recent examples followed the dot com crash in 2000-02 when the NASDAQ stock index fell… read more