Archive for posts by Kent Irwin

Housing and Urban Development and some state officials are negotiating a settlement in the ballpark of $25 billion, with the 5 largest mortgage providers: J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Ally Financial, and Wells Fargo that could benefit some homeowners with troubled mortgages, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Some homeowners could benefit by… Read More »

The Wall Street Journal reported today, that a Federal judge has ruled for Prudential Financial Inc. allowing them to void a $10,000,000 Stranger Owned Life Insurance policy. Surprisingly Prudential is also allowed to keep over $600,000 in premiums. This is huge blow to investors, because many sellers of these products believed that if cases like this were lost, at… Read More »

Interesting essay at TheMinimalists.com “The Blackest of Fridays,” commenting about the biggest shopping day of the year following Thanksgiving “On this day, people consume gluttonously without regard for the harm they’re inflicting on themselves. On this day, greed becomes ravenous. On this day, people live without real meaning, buying gifts to fill a void that can’t possibly… Read More »

Interesting Article in the Wall Street Journal today about Variable Annuity’s Guaranteed Benefits. Variable annuities provide nice tax deferred growth, their rates of return aren’t bad if they have great sub-accounts, which are accounts similar to mutual funds. Variable annuities don’t guarantee rates of return, nor do they guarantee the principle unless the annuity holder chooses… Read More »

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on Compulsive Shopping.

Legacy planning is the new phrase that is used synonymously with estate planning these days, and is the general process of arranging your financial affairs in a way that reflects your main priorities and values. People often think about wills and trusts, and this type of planning will always incorporate that, but the documents are… Read More »

Author, speaker and friend Mary Hunt of Debt Proof Living asked me recently to write an article about Credit Default Swaps, and I thought that was a great idea, and while I was at it, I thought I’d expand the subject to address complex investments in general. The simple answer to this question posed, is yes… Read More »

Many people do not have a financial compass, and they are constantly blown around by the financial winds of the day. The winds come from many directions; the demands of our personal and business needs, wants, emergencies, the emotions of the stock and bond market, and from sales offers from a wide range of investment… Read More »

Have you always worked for the same company? Most people answer no to this question. In fact, people change jobs much more frequently today than in previous generations. There are a whole host of reasons, from corporate downsizing to finding a better opportunity. Perhaps you have an employer-sponsored retirement plan with one or several previous… Read More »

Many people these days are encouraged to become more knowledgable about financial matters, but often come across financial terms that are a mystery. This can be discouraging and confusing. The financial world, like everything else, has its own vocabulary. If you want to know about a hedge fund, ETF, or nearly anything else financial, just go to the… Read More »