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19 Jun 2015 Grace for Greece Slipping Away

Posted at 14:32h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Practically speaking, the odds of Greece meeting its bailout obligations to the European Union and its credit demands of the IMF and other creditors by June 30th are close to nil. Odds are just as small that enough patience exists on the part of EU...

12 Jun 2015 Control or Resilience

Posted at 10:21h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

We are big fans of Seth Godin at Beacon. As a marketing genius, his focus is centered in that industry, but many of his writings are much more broadly applicable. Not long ago a friend and client asked us to review an indexed life insurance product that his buddy, we'll call him Bob, was near zealous over. Bob was so enamored with the promises of the insurance policy that he was even considering changing careers to sell it. A change of some kind was forced on him because he had just been laid off at 50 from a high-level executive position with a major pharmaceutical firm.

05 Jun 2015 Don’t Let Temporary Crosswinds Blow You Off Course

Posted at 15:04h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

It’s been a choppy week for Treasurys and stocks with Greece once again roiling European Union stability and mixed signals about the strength of the US economy. The question every investor is asking is when the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates? And advice is becoming louder and more widespread.

29 May 2015 Beware of the “Guarantee”

Posted at 08:29h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Since the Financial Crisis of 2008 and 2009, insurance agents, stock brokers, and bank representatives have been in high gear selling life insurance products to investors clamoring for anything that ensures them against the drubbing they received in the markets. They hear of enticing promises like "Guaranteed Income," "Guaranteed Principal," and "All the market's upside with none of its downside" and they find them hard if not impossible to resist. Are annuities and indexed life products as good as their promoters claim they are?