Latest news with #fiduciary
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Suze Orman: 6 Bad Pieces of Money Advice
As long as cash has been king, there has always been bad money advice for its disciples. However, in an increasingly digital age where people are glued to social media apps, inhaling particle after particle of 'expert' information, you're inundated with all sorts of financial advice. Some of it is salient and good, but some of it could be terrible, or at best, not a good fit, as money advice is not one-size-fits-all. Check Out: For You: Suze Orman has become a multimillionaire as a personal finance guru, and is quick to call out a piece of advice about money that should be avoided. Let's look at six bad pieces of money advice that Orman has bluntly struck down. This one may catch you by surprise, if only because you may not know this distinction exists. Not all financial advisors are fiduciary financial advisors. Here is the difference: A fiduciary financial advisor has the qualifications and commitment to act in your best interest and is overseen by complex and specific rules. A financial advisor who does not have a fiduciary duty could act against your best interests by, for example, investing your money in a stock that they want to see succeed for their own prosperity. 'Only advisors who operate as fiduciaries are promising to always put the client's interest first,' Orman said. 'If you are interviewing potential financial planners, ask them if they are a fiduciary and if they will put that in writing if you work with them. This should be a super-easy request anyone will quickly say yes to.' Read Next: Like fellow financial expert Dave Ramsey, Orman doesn't at all disavow a college education, but she does have a scrutinizing eye when she sees people going into student loan debt to secure one. Her philosophy is that college is valuable, but needs to be obtained affordably. She doesn't want to see parents place too much importance on the best of the best when it comes to education and their children's needs. She wants them to be practical and act within their budgets so that they're not putting their own futures at risk in the name of helping their kids. 'All too often, parents fail to strategize when it comes to paying for education and end up getting off the track to retiring comfortably,' Orman wrote. 'Ironically, this does kids a major disservice: If you lack sufficient retirement savings down the line, your children are the ones who'll bear the burden of supporting you.' Long a pillar in the American Dream, owning a home has become increasingly difficult for Americans. When you really want to be a homeowner but are financially pigeonholeed into renting, you may feel like you should do everything possible to afford homeownership, particularly if you deem a home a wise investment. However, a wise investment can quickly become a draining and risky one if you can't comfortably afford it. Orman has highlighted the importance that homeownership may not be in your best financial interest. 'In some regions of the country, the cost of owning may still be higher than that of renting (to account for total ownership expenses, including property tax and maintenance, my rule of thumb is to add about 30% to the base mortgage amount),' Orman wrote. Sometimes, it just makes so much more financial sense to rent than own, and don't ever think you're a failure on any level if renting is what is best for you and your situation. When choosing between term or whole life insurance, you may spring for the latter because it includes an investing component, one that sure doesn't come cheap. 'The premium cost of a whole life policy is going to be much higher than that of a term policy,' Orman said. 'This would be justifiable if you were getting a great investment deal. But you really aren't — when you consider all the embedded fees.' Orman suggested putting the focus of life insurance on the insurance aspect, without dragging in a pricey investment strategy. 'Reserve that for your 401(k) or IRA, and invest on your own through low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or no-load (commission-free) index mutual funds,' Orman wrote. The stock market is inherently risky, and some hesitant investors try to steer clear of it altogether. These folks may put most or all of their investment dollars into bonds, which tend to stay rock solid during market fluctuations that drive stocks into a tizzy. Sticking to bonds only and avoiding stocks is bad advice that you shouldn't follow, in Orman's opinion. 'Keep some of your long-term investments (money you won't touch for at least ten years) in stocks,' Orman said. 'Consider dividend stocks, which both change in value and pay a portion of a company's earnings to the shareholder, typically on a quarterly or annual basis. Your 401(k) or 403(b) probably offers a stock fund that invests in dividend-paying companies, which include most of those in the S&P 500 Index. The dividend yield for that index market is currently about 2 percent — more than the yield of a ten-year treasury note!' Tax season is on the horizon and you may be gleefully counting up how much you're going to be getting from Uncle Sam as a refund for the tax year 2024. If you're getting pumped about your tax refund, unfortunately, you've already followed bad advice. 'If you're getting a tax refund, you are making one of the biggest mistakes out there,' Orman says. Orman is aligned with most financial experts here. Getting a tax refund is proof that you've mismanaged your income in the year prior. You did so by having too much of your pay withheld for taxes. And what happened to that pay? It was kept by the government interest free and is now being returned to you, also interest free. That money could have been parked in a retirement plan or a HYSA building interest, which is what creates a real and lasting pay day. More From GOBankingRates Surprising Items People Are Stocking Up On Before Tariff Pains Hit: Is It Smart? The Most Expensive Disney Merchandise Ever Sold -- and Who's Buying It Warren Buffett: 10 Things Poor People Waste Money On This article originally appeared on Suze Orman: 6 Bad Pieces of Money Advice Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
National Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Proof Mark, Inc. Issues Fiduciary Letter to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Over Governance Concerns and Board Silence on Red Flags
Article content SAN FRANCISCO — Proof Mark, Inc. (PMI), a longtime Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) partner and shareholder, today announced that the company has issued an important open letter to Salesforce chairman and CEO Marc Benioff. Article content The letter addresses a range of critical operational and fiduciary issues which have been raised by PMI in four consecutive Red Flag Notices issued under the Delaware Chancery Court ruling in the re McDonald's Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litigation and related cases. Article content As both a Salesforce shareholder and long-standing ISV partner, PMI brings a dual fiduciary and ecosystem perspective to these concerns. To date, Salesforce's board has not responded to any of the Red Flag notices, a silence exceeding 30 days and raising serious fiduciary concerns for shareholders, regulators, and ecosystem stakeholders, especially those with a special interest in the governance and performance of the company. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
