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A tough road to fiscal prudence
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairmen of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, have accomplished something politicians rarely achieve: Their plan to cut the federal government's deficit to a sustainable 2% of gross domestic product over a number of years includes something distasteful to virtually everyone.
A time to discuss retirement policy
The Great Depression was the trigger for the creation of the Social Security system, which greatly reduced poverty in old age.
Fed has awakened bond vigilantes who fear inflation
On October 29, the bond vigilantes, after being in hibernation for many years, suddenly awoke and fired a warning shot at the Federal Reserve, the stock market and millions of other investors.
The choice that Republicans face
Voters have handed the Republican Party either a golden opportunity or a poisoned chalice, and the choice will be determined by the actions of the elected members of the party
CFP Board is taking a step in the right direction
After months of sounding out its certificants, the CFP Board's executive leadership this week will propose to the group's board that fees be increased by $12 a month, beginning July 1, for the 62,000 holders of the mark
Keeping a steady hand amid uncertainty
It isn't an overstatement to say that the future of the advice business hangs in the balance as federal agencies conduct scores of studies and write hundreds of regulations designed to carry out the sweeping mandates of the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law
Uncertainty hitting investors from all sides
Investing has always been fraught with uncertainty, but rarely has the average investor been confronted with as much uncertainty as is the case now
Congress must make tax issues a priority
CONGRESS FURTHER DELAYED the recovery from the recession by at least a month when it adjourned to campaign…
SEC must step up fraud detection efforts
The past 15 years haven't been kind to the Securities and Exchange Commission in its role as the markets' top cop. On too many occasions, it has missed signals that the investing public was being scammed.
Making sure the market isn’t being gamed
It looks like Finra isn't waiting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to figure out how high-frequency traders are affecting the market.
Financial-reform bill: Good, Bad and Ugly
The Senate financial-reform bill introduced by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., tackled a lot of difficult issues, made some tough decisions and punted on a relatively easy one — requiring financial professionals who give investment advice to accept fiduciary responsibility.
Knee-jerk reaction to market’s free fall should be avoided
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the various stock exchanges must resist the temptation to react impulsively to the market meltdown that occurred May 6.
Dodd-Frank’s unintended consequence
The Dodd-Frank financial-reform law has created the potential for great uncertainty in the investment advisory and financial planning business.
Editorial: Time to rethink assumptions about returns
The prolonged economic crisis, weak equity markets and rock-bottom fixed-income returns should cause all who advise individuals on investing to reconsider the assumptions on which much of their advice is based.
A suggestion to the SEC on 12(b)-1 fees
The goal of the Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, but would the new 12(b)-1 fee proposal really accomplish that objective? Probably not.
Editorial: So much for ‘Home Sweet Home’
For the forseeable future there will be no easy way to build a retirement nest egg, meaning investment advisers and their clients will have to work harder and use a wider range of tools to accomplish the task.
Credit rating reform efforts moving in right direction
Congressional attempts to eradicate conflicts of interest from the Wall Street credit agencies' business model are headed in the right direction, to the benefit of all investors.
The dangers of the growing bond bubble
DESPITE A DECADE of bitter experience, we have learned little about the buildup and bursting of speculative bubbles.
Investors, advisers heeding wake-up call
Judging by the results of InvestmentNews' 2010 Industry Attitudes survey, the financial crisis and market crash seem to have changed the behavior of financial advisers and clients for the better
What the listless economy needs now
Despite short-term interest rates that hover near zero and almost $1.5 trillion of bailout spending through the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the administration's stimulus program, the economy is still weak. Why?
