Close your wrap account to boost returns

Chart showing wrap account damage to assets

In a standard brokerage account, fees are generated every time there is a transaction. Brokers with clients in such accounts have the incentive to come up with reasons to trade. Notorious practitioners often churn client accounts, buying and selling frequently to beef…

Reverse mortgages are usurious scams

Ban reverse mortgages

Considering a reverse mortgage? Perhaps to shore up your budget or raise funds for a big purchase? Stop and save yourself from financial ruin. Contrary to statements in ads, reverse mortgages do not provide any income and they bring on new ways…

A reverse mortgage effectively results in a fire sale of your home

reverse mortgages effectiveely sell your home

The maximum amount of money you can receive via a reverse mortgage is some fraction of your home’s worth. Depending on interest rates a 62-year old might get between 13% and 52% of the home’s value, minus closing costs.

Don’t use a reverse mortgage to fill gaps in your budget

reverse mortgages hurt budgets

A seemingly rational sounding excuse to get a reverse mortgage is to maintain your standard of living; to stem negative cash flow. Since costs for the elderly often rise faster than retirement income sources, budgetary shortfalls are becoming increasingly common. In this…

Don’t Chase ‘Winners’

Chart showing how yearly winners do poorly in future years

Chasing winners means buying securities with good recent performance. If some stock price rose of late, you might believe demand for their products will continue to rise. If a mutual fund has outperformed its peers, you might conclude it has more adept…