By Frank Moore, MS, CFP Back in the mid-1990’s I was in my mid-30’s and discovered a great vacation property “up north” in Michigan. The area offered great amenities and the prices were more affordable than some of the more popular tourist towns. There were places to rent in the area, too, but I wondered… read more
Tax Troubles with Annuities
June 13, 2017
Posted in: Estate Planning, Financial Planning, Investments, Retirement Planning, Taxes
If someone has tried to sell you an annuity, chances are one of the main benefits that they pushed was the tax deferral. What they didn’t mention is that you could pay at least ten times more in taxes with an annuity than with a taxable mutual fund. Let’s say that you’re 50 years old… read more
The Rule That Would Help Investors—Won’t
April 10, 2017
Posted in: Fee Only, Financial Planning, Investments, Retirement Planning
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
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
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
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
Vintage Assets Top $400 Million
May 5, 2016
Posted in: Investments
In April, Vintage hit a new milestone when our assets under management topped $400 million for the first time. Our client’s portfolios, along with the addition of new clients, pushed our assets up from the $200 million mark just four years ago. Thanks go to many of clients that referred new clients. In fact, our… read more