Monthly Archives: September 2009

Whole Life Insurance: A Unique Asset Class

LISTEN: mp3 audio (5:50 min) “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” This old saying reflects a common-sense approach to long-term asset accumulation. Even if current returns from a particular investment are quite profitable, there’s wisdom in not putting … Continue reading

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No Assets, No Credit?

LISTEN: mp3 audio (6:18 min) For a long time, the way to climb the financial ladder was to accumulate wealth incrementally through diligence and thrift. People scrimped, saved, laid a financial foundation, and built their fortune over time. They left … Continue reading

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Understanding the Impact of Credit in the Economy

LISTEN: mp3 audio (7:04 min) Most of us have a basic understanding of how credit works based on our personal experiences. We borrow someone else’s money (the bank’s, the mortgage company’s, a friend’s) to buy something today, and then repay … Continue reading

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Divided By Debt

LISTEN: mp3 audio (8:45min) Where You Stand Today May Determine Where You End Up Tomorrow The ripple effect of the financial crisis that originated in the sub-prime mortgage sector in 2007 is still reverberating through the global economy. The shakeout … Continue reading

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“Down Goes Math! Down Goes Math! Down Goes Math!” (Again): Will Asset Allocation Keep Working?

LISTEN: mp3 audio (05:14min) Joe Frazier was a feared boxer, a heavy-weight champion who, between 1971 and 1975 fought three momentous bouts with Muhammad Ali, winning once. In 1973, he fought a relatively inexperienced George Foreman in Kingston, Jamaica. Foreman … Continue reading

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Using a Lottery as an Incentive to Save

LISTEN: mp3 audio (06:57min) According to Wikipedia, behavioral finance is a “separate branch of economic and financial analysis which applies scientific research on human and social, cognitive and emotional factors to better understand economic decisions by consumers, borrowers, investors, and … Continue reading

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