Is the 401(k) Obsolete?

That seems to be the view of Aaron Brown, writing for Bloomberg News, in an article titled “401(k) Plans No Longer Make Much Sense for Savers”.  Susan Tompor, a columnist for the Detroit Free Press disagrees and has written an exceptional rebuttal titled, “Does a 401(k) plan still make sense for you? It might, or … Continued

Election Confusion?

It hardly requires a stretch of the imagination to consider the possibility that the 2020 presidential election will be accompanied by a degree of confusion.  We are already witnessing the difficulties in quickly determining results for recent primary elections.  Problems include; safely conducting in-person voting, recruiting polling location staff, timely delivery of absentee ballots, agreement … Continued

I Don’t Know

Investment decisions are largely based on expectations.  Estimating future value is very difficult and inherently uncertain, which no amount of education and experience can fully overcome.  Future values are sometimes based on anticipated innovations, historical performance, broader industry trends and many other factors.  Even with careful analysis, not all investment opportunities lend themselves to high … Continued

ESG and ERISA

We recently posted a blog titled “What is ESG” that attempts to explain the ideas behind socially responsible investing.  ERISA (Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974) protects American’s retirement assets by implementing rules that qualified plans must follow to ensure that plan fiduciaries do not misuse plan assets. Many investors, understandably, want to do good … Continued

The EU Money Grab

European governments, that already have some of the world’s highest tax rates, are under increasing pressure to raise additional revenues, and believe that American tech giants represent a potential “gold mine.”  The route to increased revenues seems to be following several paths, including, new taxes designed to increase the EU’s share of U.S. tech company … Continued

Freedom of the Seas Is Important

Over the last several years we have posted a number of blogs relating to the importance of the “freedom of the seas”, most recently on (17May16) and (25Jan17).  Despite the fact that approximately 80% of the world’s trade volume travels by sea, the international community has largely ignored China’s efforts to exert military control over … Continued

Abuse of the Paycheck Protection Program

One of the components of the CARES Act is the Paycheck Protection Program.  This program offers a loan to small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat.  The goal is to keep employees on the payroll and provide assistance for other operating expenses such as rent, mortgage interest and utility payments.  If a struggling business … Continued

Margin Calls

According to Investopedia, a margin call arises when an investor borrows money from a broker to make investments.  When an investor uses margin to buy or sell securities, he pays for them using a combination of his own funds and borrowed money from a broker.  A margin call is triggered when the investor’s equity, as a … Continued

Short Squeeze

A short squeeze occurs when a rapid rise in the price of a stock, precipitated by a lack of supply and an excess of demand, pressures short sellers to cover their positions on a stock, resulting in buying volume that drives the stock price up, further pressuring the remaining shorts.  Factors precipitating pressure on short … Continued

What is ESG?

ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance, which are the three central factors in measuring sustainability and societal impact of an investment.  The concept of socially responsible business behavior is not new; it is controversial and is difficult to measure.  Investors should be aware of this issue and recognize that, to a considerable degree, acceptance … Continued

Science Versus QED

Wikipedia defines science as “a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.” Wikipedia defines QED as “an initialism of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum, literally meaning “what was to be shown”.  Traditionally, the abbreviation is placed at the end of a mathematical proof or … Continued

Michigan Auto Insurance Reform

We generally like to put out information that is helpful to all of our clients.  In this case, Michigan auto insurance reform only applies to our Michigan clients.  As a result, we are emailing this information to those clients that will be directly affected (i.e. current Michigan residents).  However, we have also opted to include … Continued