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Reports on why fund managers are moving to the sidelines rather than chase stocks they consider are overvalued. Comparison of stock mutual funds with a value orientation; Decision of David Winters, chief investment officer of Franklin Templeton's Mutual Series funds, to invest in European stocks; Implication of the managers' inability to find undervalued stocks for fund and institutional investors.

The article focuses on the significance of consulting the best adviser before giving out investment advice in the U.S. It is noted that some investment brokers are compelled to follow fiduciary standard at a higher level. Investors are recommended to consider the confusing different credentials of the brokers.

The article features XY Planning Network, an organization of fee-only financial advisors serving Generations X and Y, founded by financial planners Alan Moore and Michael Kitces. Topics discussed include requirements for financial planners who will join the organization, most compelling part of the XY offering, and background on the Garrett Planning Network, founded by Sheryl Garrett.

The article offers information on stock market forecasting focusing on the investments on real estate and savings while the stock prices are on the rise. It mentions the percentage of portfolio and the decline in stock investments. Th author highlights a discussion with financial planner Paul V. Sydlansky who plans to buy a house in four years and how he plans to work it up in an investment.

The article enumerates questions that should be asked to a financial adviser when asking advice about the life savings in a retirement account. These include the amount of money that one will personally make in cash commission, bonus that one is eligible as a result of one's recruitment to a firm, and other forms of payment that one might redeem for mechandise.

The article discusses the possible legal implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear same-sex marriage cases, focusing on financial planning considerations for gay married couples. The article highlights the financial planning situation of financial planner and Brian Thompson and teacher Benjamin Rogers, a gay married couple in Illinois, including considerations of taxation and the complexity of financial laws regarding gay couples.

Reports that the U.S. Labor Department has issued an advisory opinion that banks, brokerage firms and investment firms cannot accept payments from mutual fund companies in exchange for steering retirement account customers into those funds. How the opinion may help eliminate some of the troubling conflicts of interest that exist in many individuals retirement accounts; Excerpts from a letter from the Labor Department to Country Trust Bank, an Illinois savings institution; Views of legal experts; Likelihood that the opinion will be scrutinized by those responsible for pension plans; Labor Department investigation of fiduciaries, in order to determine whether plan participants have lost money as a result of conflicts of interest.

The article focuses on the concentration of financial advisors on single clientele such as professional athletes and people in the oil and gas business which gives advisers insights on the clients' need.

Friends and finance aren't always a great mix, which can make going Dutch on a group vacation a dicey affair. The new Web site Crowdtilt.com, however, simplifies matters by ensuring that the trip planner doesn't get stuck footing the bill. A traveler who wants to pool money for, say, a rental in London to see the Olympics (above) can create a page indicating the price per person and distribute the link to those invited. The Web site then solicits each traveler's credit card information and charges the trip only after the number of travelers required to foot the bill have submitted payment information. It bundles the payments and sends the organizer the funds electronically overnight, less a 2.5 percent fee. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

SAN DIEGO IN early 2008, Patrick Berry, then 41, decided it was time to start his own firm. He was a financial adviser at Smith Barney, but he wanted to focus on his area of expertise, advising companies on their on 401(k) plans while offering wealth management services to executives in those companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carl Richards is a certified financial planner in Park City, Utah. His sketches are archived here on the Bucks blog and on his personal Web site, BehaviorGap.com. In its most simplistic form, financial planning is the process of charting a course from where you are today to where you want to go. The first step is to become crystal clear about what I call your current reality, or where you stand now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carl Richards is a certified financial planner in Park City, Utah. His sketches are archived here on the Bucks blog and on his personal Web site, BehaviorGap.com. The odds of you picking the next hot performing stock like Google or Apple are insanely low. Yet popular stories about the next ''big'' investment tempt us to believe that this time we're on to something far enough ahead of time to ride the investment up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What would you do if your financial planner prescribed the following advice? Save and invest diligently for 30 years, then cross your fingers and pray your investments will double over the last decade before you retire. You might as well go to Las Vegas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Carl Richards is a certified financial planner in Park City, Utah. His sketches are archived here on the Bucks blog, and other drawings are available on his personal Web site, BehaviorGap.com. Since March 2009, we've watched the market rebound by 80 percent. Whether you've sat it out on the sidelines or think you can predict what comes next, I recommend you take a step back and remember a few things. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will seek a one-year salary freeze for state workers as part of an emergency financial plan he will lay out in his State of the State address on Wednesday, senior administration officials said. The move will signal the opening of what is expected to be a grueling fight between the new governor and the public-sector unions that have traditionally dominated the state's political establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Carl Richards, a certified financial planner, regularly publishes new sketches at BehaviorGap.com that try to simplify complex money decisions. While I can't prove it scientifically, I'm pretty sure there's a correlation between our personal financial situation and the amount of time we spend complaining about the practices of big banks, Wall Street, credit card companies and mortgage lenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carl Richards is a certified financial planner and the founder of Prasada Capital. It is dangerous to mix investing with entertainment. The classic example is thinking that Jim Cramer is your investment adviser rather than some sort of circus clown. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

YOU probably get an annual physical. Your doctor will ask about your concerns, take your blood pressure and 30 minutes later you're out of the paper gown and off to work -- maybe with a new prescription for Lipitor. A similar annual checkup takes place in another type of practitioner's office: financial planners. But instead of analyzing your good and bad cholesterol levels, a planner may evaluate your good debts (mortgage) and bad debts (credit card). And instead of testing your reflexes, they may look at your savings and assess your ability to respond to a financial emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most everyone needs financial advice. The big question is how much. There are tens of thousands of advisers out there, with varying levels of expertise, who charge varying fees for their services. And professional advice doesn't guarantee good returns. You need look no further for evidence than the market collapse of 2008-9, when most people lost money, even those with the supposedly ideal mix of investments, hand-picked by their financial planners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If you think you've had a hard time reckoning with your own finances in the last 18 months, try putting yourself in the shoes of the financial planners who've been answering to scores of unhappy clients. The planners, after all, were the ones who were supposed to help their clients avoid trouble in the first place. ''I feel like I'm finally able to leave the witness protection program,'' said Ross Levin, president of Accredited Investors in Edina, Minn. ''There has been a loss of confidence in us and in the world, and a sense of betrayal. They did everything we told them to do, and it seemed like it didn't work out.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TAKING QUESTIONS Three experts -- Ramit Sethi, Beth Kobliner and Madison Nipp -- will be answering reader questions on personal finance for young people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BECAUSE of the plunge in the markets, many retirees are worrying that they might outlive their money. Even more than usual this year, tax issues can complicate the decisions of those in or near retirement, financial planners say. ''Little moves they make now can make a big difference later on,'' said Gary Schatsky, a fee-only financial planner in New York. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Estate planning rarely gets the attention it should get. Saving for your children's education, purchasing a second home, deciding when and how to retire -- these are all topic that people talk about with their friends and their financial advisers. But deciding what happens to whatever is left of your money when you die is often passed over. It shouldn't, though, because it is crucial to a financial plan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ASHER--Ralph L., passed away at his Old Tappan, NJ home on July 19, 2008. Services will be held on Monday, July 21, at 1pm at Gutterman Musicant, 402 Park Street, Hackensack, NJ. Cherished husband of Susan (Pinsky) and beloved father of Dana (Scott Reiner), Larry (Janpei) and Scott (Karen). Adored grandfather of Arielle, Juliana, Stephanie, Eric and Jeremiah. A man of many passions and achievements, Ralph was loved and respected by all who knew him. A 1958 graduate of RPI, he went on to earn an MEE and MBA. During a 40-year tenure at ITT Avionics, he served as Executive Vice President of Business Development. In a second career, he was a financial planner. He was devoted to Temple Beth El, Closter, NJ, and, among other positions, served as its president. Ralph left an indelible impact on the lives he touched and will be deeply missed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on the trend of seeking financial advices from financial advisor companies, by various millionaires of the U.S. It exemplifies that the case of millionaire and resident of Virginia, Blair Hudison, who sought the help of Emerson Investment Management Inc. to handle the inheritance left by her mother. It also refers to business strategies of such compoanies and the downsides of dealing with the small and large firms.

The article offers information about some general and specific things investors can do during the last week of a year. According to Mitchell P. Slater, a planner at the Smith Barney division of Citigroup, investors should not buy mutual funds in the waning days of the year, except tax-deferred retirement accounts, as providers often distribute gains at this time. Investors should also check the amount of any losses that they were unable to write off in the previous year.

The article discusses the author's views on financial planning and seeking investment advice.

The article focuses on the financial planning strategy of adviser Suze Orman, who counsels her clients to pay debt and build a diversified investment portfolio.

Focuses on the advice of Robert A. Olstein, stockpicker and overseer of the Olstein Financial Alert fund. Olstein's ability to analyze financial statements and spot anomalies that understate or overstate performance; Comments of Olstein regarding accounting rules and estimates; Examples of how managers' assumptions can lead investors astray; Background on the overpriced stock of the Computer Sciences Corporation and the underpriced stock of American Greetings.

Reports on the selection of investments banks, Citigroup Inc. and NM Rothschild as financial advisers of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. and the Shell Group.