TMFBro (< 20)

This week's prediction roundup

July 31, 2009 – Comments (0)

Here's what some people saw when they looked at their tea leaves.   [more]

The Daily Show on Geithner's inability to sell his house

July 30, 2009 – Comments (10)

Hee-larious! Including Robert Shiller offering decorating advice for Geithner's home.    [more]

This week's prediction roundup

July 24, 2009 – Comments (4)

A random of survey of people looking into their crystal balls...  [more]

Can I get paid $772,858 to be so wrong?

July 20, 2009 – Comments (1) | RELATED TICKERS: GS , BAC , JPM

This morning, David Kostin, the chief U.S. investment strategist at Goldman Sachs, raised his year-end price target for the S&P 500 from 940 to 1,060.   [more]

When bad spending habits and ugly mortgages collide

July 20, 2009 – Comments (6)

You may be familiar with the plight of New York Times economics journalist Edmund Andrews, who has chronicled his financial downfall in an article and new book (I first blogged about it here). He and his new wife, Patty, despite a six-figure income, found themsleves with credit-card bills of $50,000 and an "ugly" subprime mortgage. How dd they do it? As Andrews wrote:    [more]

"There is no God-given right to an easy retirement"

July 16, 2009 – Comments (4)

Fund Manager Robert Rodriguez, of FPA, was recently interviewed by Consuelo Mack. He's not too optimistic about the next several years. Of note: His predictions (given his long-term success) and his view that retirement as we know it is a "fool's paradise":

"In my opinion it’ll take probably upwards of eight or 10 years for the S&P 500 to get back to where it was in October of ‘07. There has been severe capital destruction, and for some it is permanent because of where they are in their life cycle. If you are in your 20s or 30s or 40s, you have the benefit of time. If you are in your 60s and are part of the baby boom generation and you got destroyed, guess what? You better be working....

"There is no God-given right to an easy retirement. It was a fool's paradise out there. My parents and grandparents did not have an easy retirement out there. The world is unsafe and unstable. We had in this country, I believe, a perverse view of what reality truly was, and now that veil is being lifted, and I’m sorry but it's going to take a long time, and that nice retirement home or continuous vacations may not be there."

    [more]

Are people capable of financial planning?

July 16, 2009 – Comments (6)

The Journal of Financial Planning has an article by Brent A. Neiser, CFP, about the difficulties "Middle America" (those with household incomes between $30,000 and $100,000) has with planning for, and planning in, retirement:    [more]

The benefits of working longer

July 15, 2009 – Comments (0)

According to the Wall Street Journal, the current financial stinkiness is prompting older workers to put off retirement:    [more]

$1 from Social Security = $25 in your 401(k)

July 14, 2009 – Comments (10)

How important is Social Security to retirees? Journalist Scott Burns has some enlightening stats:  [more]

Returns From Momentum Funds

July 07, 2009 – Comments (0)

Given how lousy buy-and-hold worked from October 2007 to March 2009, investors are understandably looking for alternatives, including momentum-based ETF trading. In my Rule Your Retirement service, we've recently interviewed a couple of advocates of such strategies, namely, S&P's Sam Stovall (author of The Seven Rules of Wall Street) and Mebane Faber (author of The Ivy Portfolio).  [more]