Core Investment Management Group, LLC

How do you determine if the investment, whether it is a real estate investment or business opportunity, is right for your portfolio?  Is there a way to determine or calculate the maximum amount you should pay for an investment and still achieve your investment goals? What is your desired return on the investment?   Let me introduce the infamous “CAP Rate”.  The CAP Rate (Capitalization Rate) is one of the most misused acronyms propagating investment calculations.  While many investors claim to use the cap rate to determine the value of the investment, it is more commonly misused to make assumptions about value.  Many brokers and lenders will take an investment’s net operating income and divide it by the “asking price” and out pops the Cap Rate.  However, this method only tells us what the projected return will be in one year using an “all cash” investment.  How many people actually use all cash to purchase investments?  The method describe...

INVESTING FOR CASH FLOW             If you cannot take it to McDonald's and buy a burger with it-- IT IS NOT CASH FLOW .  Building assets in your investment portfolio is not a bad thing, but it should not be your primary goal.  I believe building assets for future appreciation is an excellent goal once your cash flow investments are set in place.  Far too many people are investing the wrong way by starting their investment plan only investing in stocks, usually expensive mutual funds, which may not even pay dividends.  Where is the cash flow logic in this plan?              When I ask people why they are investing I typically get the same answer, future retirement.  But, when I ask how they will use their assets in retirement their logic gets a little fuzzy, especially when I ask them how their assets provide the retirement income they need....

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...