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 Personal Money Planning'se-Newsletter for February 12, 2011
(to look at past issues, click here)
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It has been suggested that anyone traveling in the current winter conditions should make sure they have the following:
- Shovel
- Blankets or sleeping bag
- Extra clothing including hat and gloves
- 24 hours worth of food
- De-Icer Rock Salt
- Flashlight with spare batteries
- Road flares or reflective triangles
- Empty gas can
- First Aid kit
- Booster cables
I really looked like an idiot getting on the bus this morning!
From: Leuthold Weeden Capital Management's Susan Feist
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Disclosure | |
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This newsletter is produced by Gary Silverman, dba Personal Money Planning, a registered investment advisor located in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Information in this newsletter is believed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. However, the accuracy, timeliness, or applicability of the information is not guaranteed and is provided with the understanding that we are not rendering legal, accounting, tax, or other professional advice or services.
This publication should not be construed by any consumer and/or prospective client as Personal Money Planning's solicitation to effect, or attempt to effect transactions in securities, or the rendering of personalized investment advice for compensation, over the Internet. Nor should links provided to other sites be construed as the recommendation of the services or products mentioned on those sites. If such services are required, the help of a competent professional should be sought.
Remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Therefore, you should not assume that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product made reference to (directly or indirectly) on this Website will be profitable or equal to indicated performance levels. Different types of investment involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment will either be suitable or profitable for your investment portfolio.
Historical performance results for investment indexes and categories generally do not reflect the deduction of transaction or custodial charges or the deduction of an investment management fee, the incurrence of which would have the effect of decreasing historical performance results.
A copy of Personal Money Planning's current written disclosure statement discussing Personal Money Planning's business operations, services, and fees (known as an ADV Part II) is available from Personal Money Planning upon written request (and can be downloaded from our web site).
Personal Money Planning does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to Personal Money Planning's web site or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility therefore. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly.
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 You, Too, Can Balance the Federal Budget
Want to have a little mindless fun? Try balancing the federal budget in ten minutes or less.Believe it or not, you can actually do this on an interactive web site created by the New York Times. (You can find it here: http://nyti.ms/bLo4RF) There are two graphics at the top of the page: one is the projected shortfall in 2015 (a scary $418 billion), and the other is a more long-term (and scarier) deficit in 2030 ($1.345 trillion). To reduce those numbers, you make hard choices. You can cut foreign aid in half, eliminate all farm subsidies, cut the pay of civilian federal workers by 5 percent, reduce the federal workforce by 10 percent, reduce the military to pre-Iraq War size and reduce troops in Asia and Europe, reduce the number of troops in Iran and Afghanistan to 30,000 by 2013 (or make more modest cuts), raise the Social Security retirement age (there are two options), modify estate taxes, reduce or eliminate the Bush tax cuts, or impose a national sales tax and/or carbon tax.And more. With each box you check (each cut you make or tax you raise), you see how much progress you're making on the overall budget deficit in 2015 and 2030. The choices are not easy ones, and you quickly discover that the "fixes" most often debated on both sides of the aisle in Congress won't make much of a dent.Unfortunately, there isn't a button on the web site that you can push to make these deficit reduction provisions actually happen in the real world. But having an easy, interactive tool like this will undoubtedly help raise awareness, among the people who don't deal with these budget numbers on a daily basis, about the kind of measures that will have to be taken if we don't want to leave our children and grandchildren with a ton of federal debt to pay off. You'll probably remember this little game next time you hear a politician talking tough about eliminating debt in Washington.
Gary Silverman, CFP
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| Local Gardening Seminar | Beginning Gardeners' Seminar |
If you are in the Texoma area, this seminar may be for you! Smith's Gardentown Farms wants to help those who have a new home or are new to gardening. On February 19 at 10:00 a.m., go to 4940 Seymour Highway in Wichita Falls and learn the basics of lawn care, selecting and planting trees and shrubs, recommended annuals and perennials for Texoma.
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| gary's newspaper column | Newspaper Articles You May Have Missed |
From the Wichita Falls Times Record News
Which Plan Will Bear Fruit? Sometimes You Don't Know...
Marketing magic doesn't happen automatically. Sometimes it takes months. Or years.
Hopefully, We're Returning To A New Normal As the crisis fades into the past for most, Gary hopes you've learned from your trials and tribulations. |
Article links
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The Economist
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Inflation? Don't Panic Buckets of Money? This article looks into corporate America's positive earnings reports and discusses what corporations may need to do with their rainy day funds.
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from gary's facebook pages |
Facebook Stuff You May Have Missed:
From Personal Money Planning |
Index Annuities: Not So Fast
Money Magazine is not high on my recommended reading list, but sometimes they come out with an article that can be useful to my clients and friends. This month they did a story on Index Annuities. These are annuities that participate to some extent to the stock market's gains but not to its losses. Obviously this would appeal to many. Imagine having only the good and none of the bad of stock investing. Yet things are not all that simple.
You can find the non-complimentary article here:
To be fair, there is a paper circulating that takes offense to the article (actually, I'm sure there are multiple responses from the insurance industry, this one is just the most cited on the Internet). I've read the response and am not impressed. But give it a fair shake and determine for yourself which argument is more compelling. Here's the link:
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| parting thoughts
The End Of Los Angeles
February 4 marked the end of an era, the end of Los Angeles.
Not Los Angeles the city, the submarine SSN 688. That sub joined the navy the same year I did, 1975. But while I ended my service in 1982, the Los Angeles kept going another 34 years. I served on missile boats ("Boomers") and never set foot on the Los Angeles or even gazed upon her silhouette.
Los Angeles was designed to be a sub killer, a fast attack submarine. (Sure, it could also take out surface ships, but that's rather easy.) She served well, her crew and the ship earning many honors, but all things come to an end, and a tube of steel, no matter how strongly made, is no exception. To be fair to her, even my body aches a bit more than it used to and it isn't near as spry as it was.
So now I say goodbye to Los Angeles, and thank her for protecting her crews for all those years.
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Gary
Gary Silverman, CFP
Personal Money Planning
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©2010 Personal Money Planning. All rights are reserved by Personal Money Planning and content may not be reproduced, disseminated, or transferred in any form or by any means, except with the prior written permission of Personal Money Planning unless specifically noted. (Permission is not difficult to obtain.) The one exception is for downloading and printing information this newsletter for general education by the original recipient. |
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