July 10, 2014 | FIGuide

The Mystery of the Missing Millions

Jul 10 2014

There are millions of people missing from the labor force who have mysteriously disappeared. They are 3% of the 140 million work force or about 4,000,000 people. The Labor Force Participation Rate suddenly dropped by 3% from the low 60’s to the high 50’s during the great crash of 2009. This vacancy was the main reason that the unemployment rate has improved since the crash. The missing 3% of the workforce who were moderate income earners suddenly allegedly decided to retire during a scary crash in 2007-09 that had greatly reduced their retirement nest egg. This would be …

New Name….Same Great Organization!

Jul 10 2014

As most of you know, I have been a proud member of The Alliance of Cambridge Advisors (ACA) for almost ten years. ACA is a fee-only financial planning organization like no other. This organization consists of like-minded advisors who focus on holistic (comprehensive) financial planning. Most advisors do it “all” for their clients…..from taxes to investments and most things in between.

With the introduction of The Affordable Care Act (ACA), The Alliance of Cambridge Advisors noticed a bit of acronym confusion with the general public. Some folks also referred to The Alliance of Cambridge Advisors simply as Cambridge. This also …

How Much of Your Social Security Benefit is Actually Taxed?

Jul 10 2014

If Social Security is your only source of income, it is unlikely that your monthly benefit is subject to taxation. However, people with substantial income outside of Social Security may have to pay federal income taxes on their benefits. In fact, it is possible that as much as 85 percent of your Social Security payout is taxable.

To determine whether you are required to pay taxes on your benefit, the first step is to determine what the federal government deems your “combined income.” Your “combined income” is one-half of your Social Security benefit, plus all other income received during the

2014 Market Review: What Do We Know?

Jul 10 2014

If you pay close enough attention to the news media you'll eventually learn that much emphasis is placed on pundits' forecasts, but very little consideration is given to how accurate the projections turn out. When 2014 started, there were some pretty widely-accepted expectations regarding the investment environment. Let’s take a minute to review those anticipations and analyze how precise they turned out to be.

One of the most universally accepted beliefs going into 2014 was that interest rates were on the cusp of rising, and that consequently, bond returns would drop. (Of course, this has been the expectation for around

Investing for the old and foolish

Jul 10 2014

I’m pretty tired of hearing about scams involving the elderly that paint older people as doddering children. (It’s a corollary of the cultural motif of “Dad is a Doofus”). But lately, there have been some respectful public service announcements with intelligent looking older people (finally!) warning you to check out any investment advisor and be careful. Great idea which I totally support.

However, like many research projects, the devil is in the details. It just isn’t the easiest thing to find out who is trustworthy and knows what they’re doing. Not any different with a doctor, lawyer, or accountant, really. …

Archive - July 10, 2014