June 2013: Deficit Owl turns Heads at Conference
Are we reducing deficits too quickly? At the end of May, Tim and Dave attended the annual meeting of the Northern California Chapter of the Financial Planning Association (FPA). This two day meeting is widely regarded as one of highest quality meetings of its kind and we make a point of attending each year. One of the most surprising takeaways was a keynote presentation by Stephanie Kelton, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Speaking to an audience of 500 professional financial advisors that consider themselves financially literate, she...
Read MoreMessage to Plan Sponsors: Your Traditional 401ks are broken
401k plans were developed in the late 70s/early 80s – about the same time as PacMan and the Commodore 64 computer. While we’ve seen huge leaps in computer technology most 401k plans have not evolved. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Ted Benna, the father of the 401k, feels his creation has become a “monster”, and economist and professor Teresa Ghilarducci believes that 401ks have “failed” the people they are supposed to help the most. You decided to offer a 401k plan because you wanted to offer competitive benefits and help your employees save effectively for retirement. As an employer,...
Read MoreFebruary 2013: Insights from Liz Ann Sonders of Charles Schwab & Co, Inc.
We wanted to share an article written this week by Liz Ann Sonders, Senior Vice President & Chief Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. She does a great job of putting the last five years of market performance into perspective. Also read to see why Sonders is not worried as the S&P 500 approaches its record high.
Read MoreMarket Summary – Q4 2012: The Year It Didn’t Happen:
Judging by the headlines in the financial press, investors spent much of the past year anxiously awaiting one calamity after another that failed to occur. The plunge off the so-called fiscal cliff was averted. The euro zone did not fall apart. China’s economy and stock market did not crash. The bond market did not implode. The re-election of President Barack Obama did not derail the US market. The “flash glitch” in early August did not lead to further trading disruptions. Doomsday did not arrive on December 21, as some interpreters of the Mayan calendar suggested it would. Instead, the...
Read MoreJanuary 2013: What’s New at Marin Financial Advisors?
At MFA we subscribe to the adage that “he who stops getting better, ceases being good”. Behind the scenes we are constantly evaluating our processes with the idea of providing an excellent client experience. We remain open to new and better ways of doing things – please provide us with your suggestions for how we might improve. Tim and Dave will mark their tenth anniversary working together in March of 2013. As we have enhanced our service, growth has followed naturally and organically. We are pleased to report that we recently surpassed a milestone: MFA now has over $200 million...
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