Broker

A broker acts as the intermediary or middleman between a buyer and a seller and earns a commission from the transaction. There are brokers in just about any kind of business – real estate, mortgage, insurance, bonds, stock market, customs, commodities, foreign exchange, etc. In the stock market, the broker is the link between the investor and the stock exchange. Brokers as a rule have to sit for exams to earn a license in order to solicit business, offer any advice and transact on your behalf.

Q&A with Zvi Bodie and Rachelle Taqqu about Risk Less and Prosper’s Goal-Driven Approach to Investing

Is there a sense of “swimming upstream” when trying to propagate goal-based investing--as described in your new book Risk Less and Prosper--among existing financial advisors? Conventional practices and economic incentives are so heavily skewed towards modern portfolio...

Companies: 

Annuity Criticisms Often Boil-Down to Control of Assets

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Understanding Swiss Annuities

While it might be an unusual time to provide an explanation of Swiss annuities given what has been taking place of late with the Swiss franc and related decisions made by the Swiss National Bank, it still makes sense for any financial services consumer to understand potential benefits of these products.

Switzerland - Courtesy of Travellingtamas

A...

Writing the Book on Retirement Portfolios

Anyone thinking about retirement income should pick-up a copy of Retirement Portfolios by Michael Zwecher.  This recommendation applies to both financial...

Understanding the Differences between RIAs and Traditional Brokers

Those interested in understanding the differences between Registered Investment Advisors ("RIA") and traditional stockbrokers should read this Bloomberg article --this is one of the clearest and best articles that I have seen on the topic. Coverage of this issue is typically slanted in favor of the RIA because they are held to a fiduciary standard. The thinking is that the RIA model will be relatively objective and free of conflicts because it is largely fee-based . The Bloomberg article does a...

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