MARK MADDOX: These six rules will help prevent an investing nightmare
When you don’t understand the investment, you can’t fully understand the risks associated with it.
Mark Maddox
Articles
Mark Maddox: State must begin to combat financial illiteracy
Thanks to a timely study conducted by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation titled “The State of U.S Financial Capability,” we are reminded that about half of our citizens are benefiting greatly from this robust economy, while the other half are still struggling.
How to choose the right financial adviser for your needs
Selecting a good financial adviser is one of the most important financial decisions life requires you to make. If you blow this one, it can cost you and your family lots of money and require you to work well into your golden years. Getting this decision right will help you live happily ever after. At […]
MADDOX: As market surges, what should we do?
How an individual investor reacts to the current market environment is unique to each person’s situation, and decisions should be made with lots of thought and advice specific to individual circumstances.
MADDOX: Trump’s greatest legacy will be the courts
Despite amateur hour in the White House, Trump’s greatest legacy will be the conservative men and women he appoints to the federal courts. This is ironic given that, for most of his life, Trump was a Democrat and has acknowledged not having a strong ideological foundation for his political positions.
MADDOX: Conflicts of interest now acceptable in D.C.?
I am a big believer that the ethics of a business or government operation always start at the top and directly flow down to the worker bees.
MADDOX: My favorite voters keep me coming back
Election Day is democracy in the raw, democracy in action.
MADDOX: Let’s better protect our retirement accounts
The truth is, the financial services industry is a crazy quilt of good and bad options.
MADDOX: Trump’s better than Dairy Queen
By November, a majority will tire of Trump’s traveling show. To avoid a blowout, The Insulter-in-Chief will have to do more than continue to insult his opponents and make razor-thin policy statements that double as bumper stickers.
VIEWPOINT: Mike Pence, governor of INtolerance
Not only did Pence double down on his support for RFRA, but when given multiple opportunities by the ABC News moderator to state the obvious, he refused to say the simple words that, “In Indiana, it is wrong to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.”
MADDOX: Presidential election all about the Supremes
When it comes to raw D.C. power and impact on our day-to-day lives, the most important question in next year’s presidential election is, who will have the power to appoint the next wave of Supreme Court justices for potentially the next eight years?
MADDOX: Let’s enshrine golf in the Indiana Constitution, too
Thanks to our infamous Legislature, hunting and fishing will be on the ballot in 2016 to become protected rights in our constitution, placing them on par with free speech and freedoms of religion and the press.
MADDOX: Wall Street banks on amnesia
Many Americans believed that whatever caused the Great Recession should not be permitted to happen again. Most of the country seemed to agree that Wall Street’s reckless gambling with depositors’ money should never again be able to threaten the jobs and livelihoods on Main Street.
MADDOX: Bells toll for Indiana primary elections
It’s time to get rid of primary elections in Indiana. Just because we’ve been using them for every race from dog catcher up to president is not good enough to keep incurring these unnecessary costs while disengaging our voters.
MADDOX: Wolves are still at Gramma’s door
In the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Jordan Belfort, disgraced broker and owner of the now-defunct brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont, is portrayed by Oscar-nominated actor Leonardo DiCaprio as over-the-top good looking, witty and motivational. Belfort, if we are to believe what we see in the film, is a phenomenal salesman—a self-made man committed to making lots of money for himself and his friends.
MADDOX: Five years later, little progress made
For many, the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 was the formal commencement of the Great Recession. Within days, we learned that American International Group and Merrill Lynch would be next in line.
VIEWPOINT: Save yourself, and start sooner!
This is my first sermon for the newly minted “Church of Savin-tology.” I don’t care about saving your soul, I just want you to be a better saver of your hard-earned income. Our version of the golden rule says: He who saves his gold, rules in retirement. We live in a consumer-driven society that constantly challenges us to keep up with our neighbors. We are bombarded with pressures to buy the biggest house we can afford and furnish it appropriately….
VIEWPOINT: Don’t put your money into ‘The Big Lie’
If it sounds too good to be true-invest! This perversion of the old adage has cost many investors their life savings. How does it happen? In talking to many investors who’ve been victimized by outright scams, I’ve noticed the tendency of some to respond to what we call “The Big Lie.” Most investors seem to keep their guard up pretty high when approached about investing in a scheme that might return 10 percent, 15 percent or even 25 percent in…