Posts by Thomas Phelan

“I’m proud of paying taxes. The only thing is – I could be just as proud for half the money.” – Arthur Godfrey It’s tax season again, and that means millions of Americans are reviewing their finances. Ultimately, we’re seeking the answer to the same basic question: “Is there a way improve the performance of…

The new ROTH 401(k) – which just became available in January – is all the “buzz” in the financial world. It is available as either a company-sponsored plan or for an individual businessperson. While potential ROTH 401(k) custodians scramble to decipher and interpret the new law, other experts are still weighing in and vigorously debating…

Over the last few years, Americans have struggled to recover from the devastation of their IRA and 401(k) stock portfolios. “Steady the course” and “Ride it out” are Wall Street’s mantras to get people to keep their dwindling retirement assets in commission-generating stocks. But not all of them are buying it. After decades of a…

 “In America there are two tax systems; one for the informed and one for the uniformed. Both systems are legal.” – Justice Learned Hand Take a look at that quote at the top of this article. Wow! What a powerful statement – made many decades ago by one of America’s greatest judges, Learned Hand. And…

There are 45,000,000 IRAs in America. And for 30 years, Wall Street has enjoyed an uncontested 97% share of the trillions of dollars in those IRA funds. Well, times are changing. Hundreds of millions of dollars are fleeing Wall Street each month to the vaults of Self-Directed IRA custodians. For example, PENSCO Trust Company (one…

“America is a place where you can be born into a low-income household but still lift yourself up.” – Alphonso Jackson Imagine that you didn’t have one red cent in a traditional savings or checking account – but you could still simply “write a check” to: purchase real estate lendmoney on real estate purchase an…