Core Investment Management Group, LLC

Is It Time To Add Alternatives to your Investment Portfolio?             Many Americans are not satisfied with the meager return they are receiving from their typical stocks, bonds, and mutual fund investments.  So, what are alternatives and are they safe investments?  Basically, alternatives are any investment vehicle other than stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.  There are literally 100's of alternative investments available for you to invest your hard-earned money into.  As far as their risk, each one comes with moderate to extreme risks, but you need to compare the risks with other investments to shed some light on the true risks involved--not to mention your individual tolerance for risks.  All in all, some of these alternative investments can be safer than the stock market.  If you want returns not tied to the stock market whims, alternative investments might be a good source.  Let's jus...

Portfolio Diversification Is A Scam! Gerald L. House MSM “The Contrarian Investor” July 29 2016 How many times are we going to hear the statement that investing in a diversified bundle of mutual funds and bonds can grow and protect your investments long term?  The reality is that this philosophy only protects the brokerage firm’s business—not yours.  They actually do want you to make a little money—just enough for them to keep your accounts.  Sometimes, they even select investments that perform very well.  But, most of the time, their track record is abysmal.  (A Dalbar study in 2015 found that the 30 year return for the average stock mutual fund was only 3.66 percent) Let’s face it, the brokerage houses are tasked with selling investments—good ones and bad ones.  So, who do you think they must sell these bad investments to?  That’s right; they unload them on us in a bundle of mutual fund investments socked away in your 401K and IRA’s....

Life Insurance Retirement Plans (LIRPs) Gerald L. House MSM “The Contrarian Investor” 10/6/2016 Do you know where many affluent investors place some of their money for retirement?  Well, believe it or not, they invest in whole life insurance.  But, wait a minute; this is not your typical whole life policy.  As a matter of fact, it is a plan which has virtually been turned upside down and then flipped sideways.  First, a little background information is needed:  This type of whole life policy was first made popular by a veteran life insurance agent by the name of Nelson Nash.  He coined the term “Infinite Banking”.  Since then, this type of policy has attracted many more nicknames such as:  “Bank on Yourself”, “Live Your Life Insurance”, “702 Plan”, 770 Plan, The Secrete Code, and others.  Believe it or not, there is even a company promoting it as an event called “Financial Freedom Boot Camp” and you must pay to attend!...

Re-Defining Retirement:  The Social Dynamics of Life Planning Gerald L. House MSM “The Contrarian Investor” Abstract Too often we think of retirement primarily as a financial issue.  Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.  Retirement, as defined by the new retirement generation called the baby boomers, is much more dynamic and requires considering several aspects of life planning.  This new life phase necessitates preparing our aging adults for the final stage of their lives socially as well as financially.  Furthermore, the next generation of planners need to either set-up referral networks of individual specialist or combine into one business organization called  life planners  to carry out the needs of seniors.     We tend to accept something as the truth after hearing the claims of it repeated over and over to us.  Case in point:  How many times do you hear the statement  trust, but verify ...

Re-Defining the Financial Service Firm:  Creating a Theory-Based Practice. The term “retirement” was foreign before the twentieth century.  Retirement did not become a popular slogan until after the Social Security Act of 1935 ( Ellis, Munnell, and Eschtruth, 2016).  Seventy-three years later, during the  financial recession of 2008-2012, a firestorm of questions emerged regarding the financial service industry's methods of managing money for retirement plans.  Adding to the dilemma, t he millennial generation, classified as those individuals born from 1980-2000, now outnumbers the baby-boomers and represent over one-quarter of our country’s population ( Cutler, 2015).  The general problem many financial service firms face today is p eople are demanding better financial advice and more investment options from their financial service practitioner.  Yet, the financial planning firms today continue to promote the same non-theoretical based advice pro...

Financial Planning Assumptions Financial planners typically make various assumptions when developing a financial plan for clients.  One assumption financial planners rely on is  historical returns in estimating assets needed for retirement; however, historical returns are no longer an appropriate indicator of future results (Blanchett, Finke, and Pfau, 2017).  Therefore, using historical returns to estimate future results can have a devastating effect on your investment portfolio.  Because historical returns on investments tend to over inflate actual returns, a more realistic planning model is to use real-time forecasting.  If we can agree that financial independence is one of the main investment goals, which is to build investment cash flow to cover your financial obligations, then it stands to reason financial independence is one of the first goals to plan for when developing your financial plan.  Real-time forecasting is a method of defining your cu...

"My thought of the day" Real-Time Forecasting How valuable is a financial plan?  Most financial planners do a good job collecting data to build a financial plan for their clients.  However, planners fall short when they start forecasting future results. For instance, planners typically make several assumptions about market returns, inflation, taxes, and spending habits.  Of course, this is what I call hokey-pokey.  The English Oxford Dictionary defines hokey-pokey as: "(the hokey-pokey)   US  A group dance performed in a circle with a synchronized shaking of the limbs in turn, accompanied by a simple song". If we think about this logically, it is virtually impossible to predict future results with so many variables.  I would venture to say my college algebra professor cannot even solve this equation!  Sorry, Dr. Baker.  So, why do so many financial planners still use this method to build a financial plan for their clients?  I am...