Sorted Weekly Tweets
Eurozone If Greece Quits Euro, Its Ruin Will Be Pointless http://t.co/2DotggME Suggests Greece will face more pain if leaves E-zone than stays $$ May 17, 2012 Experts Try to Chart Path for Exit From Currency http://t.co/dtIAoo3g Let’s see, where is that manual for unscrambling eggs? Mmm… $$ May 17, 2012 On the E-zone: the...
Elderly Poor?
There will be elderly poor. Look at page 26 of this PDF. I interpret those that don’t know or declined as being well below $50K in assets. That means 60% of those reaching “retirement age” will have less than two years income stored up. That said I feel more sorry for younger workers who have...
The Best of the Aleph Blog, Part 15
This stretches from August 2010 to October 2010: The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part VII On the value of credit analysts. The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part VIII On price discovery in dealer markets, and auctions gone wrong. I never knew that I could haggle so well. The Education of a...
On Distribution Formulas
Before I get started this evening, I would like to offer an apology to those that read my recent piece, Simple Retirement Calculator. I didn’t define all of the terms in the piece, and so here are the definitions: DB plan — defined benefit plan, a pension plan that offers a certain benefit, and the...
Simple Retirement Calculator
Sorry that I have not been posting much of late. April is always rough for me. Taxes play some role in April, because I get a certain amount of my tax data late, but the main reason stems from some charitable boards on which I serve, which meet in/near April. One of the questions that...
Weekly Sorted Tweeets
Federal Reserve Long Term U.S. Credit Boom Chart http://t.co/Ywub8HQH By bailing out short-term credit cycles, the Fed created a big asset bubble $$ Apr 28, 2012 Quantitative Deleting: The Fed’s $400 Billion ‘Gift’ http://t.co/qavtYcQy Fed’s actions lower cost of funding the US Treasury’s deficit 4now Apr 26, 2012 Bernanke Takes On Krugman’s Criticism Ignoring...
Sorted Weekly Tweets
Busy week last week. Here’s the economic and other news: =-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-==-=-=-==-=-=-=-=–==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- China Bloomberg: Inflated Notions http://t.co/hvMoIFH6 Patrick Chovanec questions whether Chinese economic statistics are correct. $$ Apr 22, 2012 China’s Political Stability Questioned, while Deposit Withdrawals Accelerate http://t.co/X9kJ9oZb Deposits exit China’s banks; many worry $$ Apr 22, 2012 Asia dominates new treasury purchases http://t.co/BXvgGQRi...
Misunderstanding the Tax Debate (II)
I’m going to do something different to start this post. I’m going to highlight those that disagreed with the last post. Thanks for disagreeing, because it makes this post better. Response 1: It’s all well meaning but it’s likely to fail in practice, with unintended consequences and nasty corner cases where you have to reintroduce...
Sorted Weekly Tweets
Valuations High Yield Closed End Funds 68% over NAV, 3% avg premium. Loan Participation CEFs 40% over NAV, -1% avg discount. Conditions r medium hot $$ Apr 07, 2012 Why Stocks Look Too Pricey http://t.co/TWqZzGg3 Various Indicators Suggest the Market Is No Longer a Bargain, at best fairly valued $$ Apr 07, 2012 Contra:...
Sorted Weekly Tweets
China China’s first bond default could be good market medicine http://t.co/8ShFniYM Bond trader: “We don’t really have a credit risk culture.” $$ Mar 31, 2012 Is China’s slowdown worse than previously estimated? http://t.co/CkZw8tLK Could b business conditions that are worst since 2009. $$ Mar 31, 2012 China Banks Said to Underestimate Local Government...
The ever-moving goalpost of retirement
Are we ever going to be able to retire?It’s a question many ponder…Defined benefit pension schemes are dead, the population is aging, and healthcare costs are rising....
Replacing Defined Contributions
I think that it is pretty certain that defined contribution [DC] plans 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457s, much as they have grown to be dominant, have been a failure. Many, though not all people like the illusion of control, and seeing their cash balance — makes the pension plan tangible, even if they don’t get what they...
