Pensions, Promises And Lies
January 2, 2008Since the beginning of history, most people toiled, tilled or hunted from puberty to old age. Then, in the 20th century, they retired. The idea of spending one’s golden years in comfortable leisure has evolved from a dream to an expectation to, in some countries, a constitutional right. Now, we are going to discover whether the promise of perpetually funded retirement for the masses was only an exercise in self-delusion. …
Ruling Further Separates Brokers, Registered Advisors
January 1, 2008In rejecting the so-called “Merrill Lynch Rule,” a recent federal appeals court decision has re-established traditional regulatory guidelines that afford more protection to investors. For years, some stockbrokers had attempted to blur the distinction between themselves and investment advisors, who have strict fiduciary duties to their clients. They succeeded for awhile, in part because of the Merrill Lynch Rule, adopted temporarily in 1999 and approved in 2005 by the Securities …
Retiring On The Backs of Young Workers
January 1, 2008Generation Y just stepped into the work force, and we’re already thinking about retirement — not our own so much as that of the baby boomers. How can we support a growing multitude of retirees and ourselves at the same time? Under the current Social Security system, it is not possible. To most members of my generation, the downfall of Social Security is inevitable. We pay taxes, never expecting to …
Clients, Colleagues Foster 15 Years Of Growth
January 1, 2008It was gray and snowy January day, 15 years ago, when I lugged a computer and an unassembled desk into a converted movie house to start my business. And it was very, very quiet. No more commuter train to Manhattan; I could walk to work from our Westchester co-op. No throng in the lobby of a glass-and-steel tower; my office was tucked away at the far end of an alley. …
Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 24 bytes) in /var/www/phfg/_/wp-includes/meta.php on line 559