Category: best way to invest money

Dalbar 2016 Report: Many Investors Haven’t Even Kept Up With Inflation

May 18th, 2016 by Pamela Yellen | 6 Comments

The latest report from DALBAR reveals the harsh reality about the actual returns stock market investors have been getting for the last 30 years.

Would it surprise you to know that many investors haven’t even been able to keep up with inflation for the last three decades?

Many investors haven’t, according to the 2016 Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior.

Here are the facts about actual long-term investor returns

The average investor in asset allocation mutual funds (which spread your money among a variety of classes) earned only 1.65% per year over the last three decades!

These investors didn’t even come close to beating inflation, which averaged 2.6% per year.

The average investor in equity mutual funds averaged only 3.66% per year – beating inflation by only 1% per year. (Was that worth the roller-coaster ride and sleepless nights?) [Read more…] “Dalbar 2016 Report: Many Investors Haven’t Even Kept Up With Inflation”

Review: What’s REALLY In “The Big Black Book of Income Secrets”?

April 19th, 2016 by Pamela Yellen | 9 Comments

UPDATED August, 2019

If you receive emails from investment advisory services like I do, you may have gotten a sales pitch for The Big Black Book of Income Secrets from the Palm Beach Research Group.

Photo of the Palm Beach Group's Big Black Book of Income Secrets Book Cover — *The Big Black Book of Income Secrets* is One of Palm Beach Letter’s Marketing Hooks

The promo promises you’ll discover “30 unique income tools” in The Big Black Book of Income Secrets. It sounded like there were some interesting strategies being covered, so I decided to do some investigating. Read on for my review of The Big Black Book of Income Secrets and what it’s all about…

The offer entices you with a “risk-free 60-day trial subscription to the Palm Beach Letter.” If you’re not satisfied before the two-month trial is up, you’re told you can get a refund and keep the book and some “bonus” reports that are included in the offer.

To find out if The Big Black Book of Income Secrets lived up to its promises, we signed up for the “Platinum Subscription” for $99 for the first year, which comes with additional “bonus” reports.

Three weeks later, the book arrived, containing 22 (not 30 as promised) strategies, with a cover letter from the Publisher, Tom Dyson, explaining that we could log into their website to access the reports we signed on for and back issues of the Palm Beach Letter. (I guess for $99, they can’t afford to mail you hard copies of the reports.)

As I started reading through the 22 income strategies in the book, I immediately started noticing some red flags.

The First Red Flag in The Big Black Book of Income Secrets is “Income For Life”

What Infinite Banking and Nelson Nash Missed

February 17th, 2016 by Pamela Yellen | 3 Comments

Updated November, 2019

Pamela Yellen was introduced to Infinite Banking through Nelson Nash’s book, “Becoming Your Own Banker: Unlock the Infinite Banking Concept”

I am infinitely grateful to the late Nelson Nash for introducing me to the Infinite Banking Concept®. It’s a very powerful concept that brings to the table Nelson’s life-long study of the Austrian School of Economics.

In this article, I described what Nelson got right about this concept, and my own life-changing experience of how it lets you “Become Your Own Banker.”

However, here are several things in his ground-breaking book that I take issue with, and that have caused unnecessary confusion for readers

**1. His first book, Becoming Your Own Banker®, was copyrighted in 2000.**

Who’s the Bozo Administering Your Retirement Plan?

February 10th, 2016 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

When you have a plumbing issue, you call in a qualified plumber, right? When you need a medical procedure, don’t you want a qualified doctor? When you go to get your car fixed, aren’t you going to hand it over to a qualified mechanic?

So why would you turn your retirement plan over to an unqualified administrator?

Wait! You didn’t know that you’ve placed your hard earned retirement money in the hands of someone who very likely doesn’t know what they’re doing? It’s one of the common retirement planning traps I’ve been covering in this blog.

According to SmartMoney magazine, 90% of the country’s 401(k) plans are watched over by people who “need no special qualifications and no investing expertise or experience.” [Read more…] “Who’s the Bozo Administering Your Retirement Plan?”

How Hidden Fees Are Sabotaging Your Retirement Plan

February 4th, 2016 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

In my first blog about costly retirement planning traps, I explained how conventional retirement plans put you in jeopardy of losing money you absolutely cannot afford to lose. Just because all the other lemmings choose to dive over the cliff, doesn’t mean you have to!

Now let’s look at the gremlins of conventional retirement plans that are decimating the nest egg you’re trying to build: FEES.

Do you even know how much you’re paying in fees each year for your retirement account? If you’re like most Americans, you don’t have a clue. The Employee Benefit Research Institute found that only half of 401(k) plan participants even noticed the fee information stuffed in the 14-page disclosure (that requires a magnifying glass to read and 3 years of law school to understand).

And almost no one makes any changes to their plan if they do read the fee disclosures.

Most folks just don’t think fees are all that important. Or, they think they’re unavoidable – sort of like death and taxes.

Wrong on both counts!

Wealth Beyond Wall Street: Retirement Planning Solution or Scam?

December 16th, 2015 by Pamela Yellen | 23 Comments

Have you been hearing radio and other ads for something called Wealth Beyond Wall Street offering a free book if you call a toll-free number?

The promise sounds enticing: Use an index strategy to share in the upside of the stock market with no downside risk. You may also hear that this is the same strategy used by Walt Disney and JC Penney. If you’re wondering what it’s all about, I’m going to spill the beans in this review, including the ACTUAL strategy Walt Disney and JC Penney used…

Wealth Beyond Wall Street book cover — *Wealth Beyond Wall Street* book by Brett Kitchen and Ethan Kap

Wealth Beyond Wall Street is the brain child of marketer Brett Kitchen, and Ethan Kap, a financial advisor. They typically appear together in pictures dressed in black suits and black sunglasses, standing next to a classic Mustang. (Reminds me of the Blues Brothers every time I see it.)

Before Wealth Beyond Wall Street, they called it Safe Money Millionaire and the 101 Plan.

When you call their toll-free number to take advantage of their free book offer, you’ll also be offered a free consultation or “blueprint” from one of their advisors. [Read more…] “Wealth Beyond Wall Street: Retirement Planning Solution or Scam?”

President Reagan’s Secret 702(j) Retirement Plan – What it Is and How it Works

October 19th, 2015 by Pamela Yellen | 18 Comments

President Reagan’s Secret 702(j) Retirement Plan is yet one more name that the Palm Beach Group has given to the Bank On Yourself method, which relies on a super-charged variation of an asset that’s never had a losing year in it’s 160+ year history.

Here’s a spoiler alert: The 702 J Retirement Plan is not an investment and not technically a retirement plan. It’s a specialized type of high cash value dividend-paying whole life insurance that enjoys tax advantages spelled out in IRS Section 7702 of the US tax code.

It’s a wonderful retirement plan alternative that has none of the volatility and unpredictability of traditional investing strategies.

So why didn’t The Palm Beach Group call it a “7702 J plan” instead of a “702 J plan”?

What Happens When You Act Against What You Believe?

October 15th, 2015 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Last week we held an online event revealing 6 Costly Retirement Plan Traps… and How to Avoid Them. Nearly 1,000 people attended.

Throughout the event, we took real-time audience polls and surveys, and the results were astonishing.

The Biggest Revelation Was that Most People’s Actions are in Direct Opposition to Their Beliefs!

Here’s what I mean by that…

A whopping 93% of those surveyed believe that there will be another major stock market crash in the next five to ten years – or even sooner.

(I’m curious whether you agree?)

Almost as many who responded – 89% – believe that tax rates are going UP over the long term.

So most people fear that another major crash isn’t too far off… and they think tax rates are going to be higher during their retirement years.

But take a wild guess: How do you think these same people are saving for retirement? [Read more…] “What Happens When You Act Against What You Believe?”

Vacations are for People, NOT Your Retirement Plan

September 10th, 2015 by Pamela Yellen | Leave a Comment

Do you remember how much value the stock market lost in the crashes of 2000 and 2007? I’m talking about what percent the market lost during each of those crashes.

If you’re not sure, take a guess before you read on.

The tech crash happened just 15 years ago. The S&P 500 lost 49% from March, 2000 to October, 2002. Many investors – myself included – had moved their money into NASDAQ tech stocks, which plunged 78% during that same 2-1/2-year period.

Then the S&P 500 peaked again in 2007 – just a few years later. By March of 2009, it had plunged 57%.

That makes two heart-stopping losses of more than 49% just in the last 15 years. [Read more…] “Vacations are for People, NOT Your Retirement Plan”

The REAL Reason Forbes Got Too Scared to Publish the Article They Asked Pamela Yellen to Write

August 18th, 2015 by Pamela Yellen | 3 Comments

As you can probably imagine, I felt honored when Forbes asked me to write an article for them. Wouldn’t you be flattered if Forbes wanted you to write an article?

It was one of their regular columnists who requested the article, who I’ve called “Pat” to protect the guilty.

Pat had asked me to answer ten questions for publication. The questions indicated Pat knew I have a contrarian take on Wall Street and that I’m a consumer advocate.

I was eager to answer Pat’s questions and tell the world about the scams in the mutual fund industry and expose the wealth-killing truths about 401(k)s and IRAs.

And I supported every statement I made with impeccable and unimpeachable sources, from Morningstar to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

But two days after receiving my article, Pat declined to run it “because there’s just too much controversy.”