Kiplinger’s reports that expense ratios for stock mutual funds are rising, despite a horrific year of performance for most funds. As described in the article, when assets in a fund fall below certain “breakpoints,” management fees as a percentage of assets increase. So it could very well be the case that you, my dear mutual […]

Q. Can you help me win on that Deal or No Deal show? A. Yes, if winning means maximizing the amount of money you take home, not picking the right suitcases. Here is my advice: 

Forget about winning the million dollars. The odds say it just won’t happen. The object of the game should be […]

An update of our original video. More about Tarpon, Spoke Fund® and swimming naked.

Read something interesting lately? Post it in the comments or send it in. Why I Fired my Broker. The intro says it all: “With his 401(k) in ruins, our correspondent visits investment gurus, hedge fund managers, and a freakish Arizona survivalist with one question in mind: How can the ordinary investor recover?” Sent in from […]

Q. How is this bank rescue plan supposed to work? A.  The basic idea is that if the big banks can sell off their bad assets, they can function again. The banks have known this but can’t find any buyers. The government is bringing buyers to the table by sweetening the deal. In one part […]

Happy Conch Republic Independence Day! From the official site: DEDICATED TO THE FUNDAMENTALLY AMERICAN SPIRIT OF A PEOPLE UNAFRAID TO STAND UP TO ‘GOVERNMENT GONE MAD WITH POWER’ THAT EMBODIED THE FOUNDING OF THE CONCH REPUBLIC IN 1982. AS THE WORLD’S FIRST FIFTH WORLD NATION, A SOVEREIGN STATE OF MIND SEEKING ONLY TO BRING MORE […]

Jonathon Jarvis has put together a great overview of the credit crisis in a way that everyone can understand.

Islamorada is a fishing town, first and foremost, though more Hemingway than New Bedford. It’s an amazing place. Our waters are as clear as gin. We’ve got 6,000 species of fish within a ten-mile radius. Air doesn’t come any cleaner. Manatees float through our backyard canals. And we are the mecca of saltwater fly fishing. […]

Good overview last night on 60 Minutes of how 401(k) investors have been chronically disserviced by the mutual fund industry.

Some recent shots from Pat Ford in the Bahamas and Seychelles. Reprinted with permission.