Beware the Fine Print in Your Variable Annuity

Beware the Fine Print in Your Variable Annuity

I wrote a blog last month explaining why it’s so difficult to get good advice on annuities, especially the more complex ones like variable annuities. We’re now starting to see the risks associated with failing to read all the fine print in that fifty page annuity contract. AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. notified clients last…
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Do You Really Want to Sell Your Bonds Now?

Back in February I wrote a blog about whether or not it makes sense to avoid bonds today (https://www.cognizantwealth.com/2013/02/14/should-you-avoid-bonds-in-todays-environment/). My conclusion was that bonds remain a critically important part of an investment portfolio, but that bond buyers need to be more selective in the current environment.  Last month the Fed announced that it is considering…
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Why Good Annuity Advice is Hard to Get

Annuities can be a very valuable part of an investment portfolio.  Unlike stocks & bonds, they provide guaranteed income for as long as you live (at least to the extent supported by your state’s Life & Health Insurance Guarantee Association).  But getting help on what kind of annuity to buy (let alone which one specifically)…
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What’s In Store for the S&P 500?

As of this writing the S&P 500 is once again testing new highs.  It’s always valuable at such a juncture to consider the two trends that market returns always follow in order to keep one’s perspective within the realm of rationality. First, there’s cyclical change, best expressed by the adage “What goes up must come…
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The Ramifications of Burgeoning Student Debt

New college graduates these days face the same financial challenges that young workers have faced for the last several generations. As they enter the workforce there’s the cost of an apartment, perhaps a used car if public transportation is lacking, and of course their personal preferences for entertainment. At some point during their evolution they…
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How Can We Prevent Future Economic Crises?

Dr. Horace “Woody” Brock is an author and economist, and the founder and president of Strategic Economic Decisions, an economic think tank.  He believes the growth of “bubbles”– such as the real estate bubble that had such a devastating effect on world economies in 2008 – can easily be controlled. In a recent interview with…
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