Friday Reading: Securities In An Insecure World

By Harry Sit

A Rediscovered Graham Masterpiece from Jason Zweig

Mr. Richard A. Rigg of San Francisco saved a typewritten copy of a 1963 Benjamin Graham speech. Jason Zweig posted it online for everyone to read.

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Another Credit Union Increases Early Withdrawal Penalty on Existing CDs from DepositAccounts.com

Some credit unions are really tarnishing the good reputation of credit unions. Of the two reported incidences of changing terms on existing CDs, both are done by a credit union. A complaint to the federal regulator NCUA was even ruled in the credit union’s favor. Let’s see how the state regulator rules on this one.

Don’t ever think credit unions are automatically good and banks are automatically bad. Even the "evil" Bank of America didn’t touch existing CDs when it changed its terms. I’m appalled at a credit union pulling this on its members.

*****

CFP Board Relaxes Its Position On Financial Planner Bankruptcies… Sort Of from Michael Kitces at Nerd’s Eye View

The governing body of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation says it no longer disqualifies a CFP candidate for past bankruptcies. This I agree. We shouldn’t stop someone from becoming a CFP just because he or she had some problems with money in the past. Actually one’s own problems could have been the motivator for pursuing a career in financial planning.

However, the board also says it will not revoke the CFP designation from someone who files bankruptcy after he or she is already a CFP. If a Certified Financial Planner can’t even handle his or her own money well enough to stay away from bankruptcy after getting the training and passing the exams, it’s a clear indication he or she isn’t qualified to plan others’ money. Not that you should trust someone blindly just because he or she is a CFP, if a CFP can’t live up to this minimal standard, what’s a CFP worth?

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Talking about Money Offline from Leigh’s Financial Journey

I wish people are more open about money like Leigh’s co-workers. My theory is that people don’t talk about money among each other because they don’t want to be judged or find out they didn’t get the best deal.

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Pay Your Kids To Fund Their Own Roth IRA? from My Money Blog

Parents, especially those self-employed, often want to hire their own kids for jobs in the business. The kids will get a leg up in having a Roth IRA at an early age. The cost for doing so includes 15.3% payroll tax and potentially losing eligibility for financial aid.

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What Can We Learn from Past Performance? from Oblivious Investor

Past performance does not guarantee future performance. It still can be useful to some extent, more so for index funds, less for actively managed funds.

Blog of the Week: Leigh’s Financial Journey

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Posted on January 27, 2012 under News. Keywords: , , , , .

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Comments

7 Comments on Friday Reading: Securities In An Insecure World

  1. Leigh on January 27, 2012
     

    Thanks for the mention!

  2. Money Tips on January 27, 2012
     

    The CFP part is great!! It makes sense to not prohibit someone to become CFP for past bankruptcies and restrict the one who fails to manage his own funds even after being trained as a financial planner.

  3. DTSC on January 27, 2012
     

    Hmmm. For once I think the CPF board is a little harsh. Using the same logic, doctors can’t smoke, drink or eat too much?

  4. Joseph D'Agostino on January 28, 2012
     

    I enjoy reading your blog, but I think you should rethink your opinion about bankruptcy and the CFP designation. There may be reasons for filing for bankruptcy that do not imply a person is an incompotent financial planner – in particular, I’m thinking divorce.

  5. alanb on January 29, 2012
     

    I agree with J D’A. What about bankruptcy following a major medical expense? There are factors other
    than incompetence that can contribute to filing for bankruptcy.

  6. TFB on January 29, 2012
     

    OK, I can use more education here. Isn’t a financial plan supposed to cover these contingencies? A major medical expense – that’s why you have insurance. A divorce – if two people have a positive net worth before, how does a split make it negative? Sorry about the naive question. I really don’t know because I never had one.

  7. dd on January 29, 2012
     

    Thanks for the Friday picks, I enjoyed reading them.

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