#cloning #HumanGenome #BuildingAPersonFromScratch
A couple decades ago, there was talk of cloning, or making an exact copy of an animal, person etc. Dolly, the cloned sheep, became a household name.
Now, scientists are beginning a 10-year program that will re-create the human genome which, if successful, could lead to creating people without the help of parents.
The proposal was published June 2, 2016, in the journal Science, and was the subject of an article by New York Times reporter Andrew Pollack. Pollack’s article was republished in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The idea of building people in a lab is fraught with moral considerations. The potential for huge advancements in medical science is intriguing. Still, Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health — the main funder of medical research in the United States – said that while the NIH is interested in encouraging advances in DNA synthesis, it “has not considered the time to be right for funding a large-scale, production-oriented” project like this one, according to Pollack’s article.
Collins also said such a project immediately raises “numerous ethical and philosophical red flags,” according to Pollack’s article.
The nonprofit Center of Excellence for Engineering Biology, which will run the project, intends to get funding from several public and private sources, according to Pollack’s article.
It’s fairly easy to see the medical advancement potential here. “It might be possible to make organisms resistant to all viruses, for instance, or make pig organs suitable for transplant into people,” Pollack writes.
But to make a whole person, piece by piece, in a lab? That’s delving into areas that will challenge ethics, potentially alter population mix and a host of other things that could change mankind as we know it.
We live in a diverse world. We celebrate that diversity. We work with, and live with, nature, while allowing it to be natural. We certainly like to manufacture things that will benefit us, but manufacturing people may be beyond what we should be doing.
Instead, if we don’t like our situation, or we don’t like whom we’ve become, let’s remake ourselves without making a new person from scratch. We all have the ability to change, to become better people, without changing our DNA, or becoming artificial.
One of the ways we can change is to help others more. To check out one of the best ways to do that, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You can see how people helping people potentially can help make all involved prosperous.
There are many things we, as smart humans, can do to make the world a better place. There are diseases to fight, physical, economic and other challenges to overcome.
But creating people in labs potentially will dehumanize us as a whole. Imagine a person created in a lab being asked where he or she came from, what his or her family background is etc. Those are all things that make us who we are. How does adding to an already overpopulated world from a lab enhance the world experience?
If this project remains limited in scope, much good could come from it. The danger lies in carrying it out to its fullest potential.
Let’s hope the researchers, presuming they get the funding to do this, will be mindful of all ramifications of their research as they conduct it. Just because something CAN be done, doesn’t mean it SHOULD be done.
Peter
Tag Archives: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MIDDLE CLASS DECLINING IN MANY METRO AREAS
#MiddleClass #MedianIncome #population
“The widening wealth gap is moving more households into either higher- or lower-income groups in major metro areas, with fewer remaining in the middle.”
So writes Christopher Rugaber of the Associated Press. His article was published in the May 12, 2016, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Rugaber based his article on a Pew Research Center analysis and report. Pew defines the middle class as households with incomes between two-thirds and twice the median income, adjusted for household size and local cost of living, according to Rugaber’s article.
Middle-class adults now make up less than half the population in such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Houston.
“(The shrinking of the middle class) has increased the polarization of incomes,” Rugaber quotes Rakesh Kochhar, associate research director at Pew and lead author of the report.
Nationally, the proportion of middle class adults shrank to 51 percent in 2014 from 55 percent in 2000, Rugaber quotes the report. Upper-income adults now constitute 20 percent of the population, up from 17 percent. The lower-income share has risen to 29 percent from 28 percent, the article says.
So what happened? People who lost jobs in the Great Recession, if they have found new ones, are now working for less money. The article tells of a Detroit man, age 52, who was earning $28 an hour as a factory worker, but now works for $17 an hour in another company’s shipping department.
That’s pretty close to half of his salary gone.
The good jobs that had been available, whether unionized or not, are disappearing. Make no mistake. Regardless of how you feel about labor unions, they helped build the middle class. As their power wanes, so does the middle class. Many of those who rail against unions today either once belonged to a union, or had a close family member who did. Many today have unions to thank for whatever life they have built or inherited.
Not only have people lost good jobs only to take lesser paying ones, many have lost good benefits. What their good jobs used to pay for, i.e. health insurance, their new jobs probably do not.
So many are making less, and paying more out of pocket for life’s necessities. Fortunately for them, the price of oil has dropped significantly, so they are saving lots at the pump.
It’s easy to look at the downside of a shrinking middle class. But let’s check out the reverse: some people are actually making more than middle-class wages.
That could be the result of one of several things. Some may be getting highly educated, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Skills in those areas can bring someone a big-paying job.
Still, companies often have to look outside the United States to find people with those skills. Apparently, America is not producing those highly educated people in large numbers.
Some could be boosting their net worth by investing well in the markets. One could start relatively poor, save a little each week out of his meager paycheck, put it away and watch it grow. Then, that person must stay disciplined enough to manage it, but not touch it, until his or her elder years.
Finally, there are ways other than a traditional job that one can earn extra income. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You’ll see people who started in a variety of financial positions – low, middle or high income – and worked part time on something that made them a fortune. There are no guarantees, of course, but a few people saw something special and worked with it.
The lesson here is that to improve one’s financial position, he may have to look for something that may not be readily apparent. Stick with a job, even a lower-paying one, if you must, but always be on the lookout for something better. There are good things out there for those who look for them.
Peter
DO SCHOOLS REALLY HAVE TO BE BORING?
#BoringSchools #education #HappyStudents
A graduate from an affluent New York high school told a panel of education experts that school was like a prison.
“The only difference,” said Nikhil Goyal, “is that in schools, students are paroled at the same time every day. Does school really have to be this horrible, this boring and monotonous thing that you have to wake up every day at 7 a.m. and go to?” he asked.
Goyal was quoted in a June 13, 2016, column by Maureen Downey, education columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Goyal, now 21, has written a book titled, “Schools on Trial: How Freedom and Creativity Can Fix Our Educational Malpractice,” Downey writes.
Schools should bend to accommodate students rather than forcing children to learn in lockstep and labeling them as failures if they fall out of step, Downey writes, attributing the statement to Goyal.
Why can’t we design schools “where kids are happy and excited to be there?” Downey quotes Goyal.
As we’ve learned, particularly in recent years, it’s difficult to absolutely quantify learning.
Couple that with the advancing technology, in which information is readily available, and we begin to wonder what we are teaching kids, and whether those things are going to actually help them.
The best way we know to quantify learning is through test scores, term papers and the like. In many instances, the students are merely spitting back information they might not ever use – not to mention how easy it will be to find if they do use it.
Employers may not be looking for what a person knows, but how he thinks and whether his way of thinking will mesh with what the company wants to accomplish.
We want to teach kids how to think, but exactly how to do that, in a way that is quantifiable, is a real challenge for educators.
Perhaps, as the educators perfect that, students will feel more excited in school.
Downey says Goyal told her that students measured their self-worth by the number of Advanced Placement classes they took and the academic honors they received. Most were sleep-deprived and some depended on prescription drugs, like Adder-all and Ritalin, to survive, Downey writes.
Certainly, some independent schools, with less emphasis on quantifying learning, let students rely on their own innate curiosity and creativity to lead them to what they should learn, Downey writes. That, she attributes to Goyal, will allow students to learn with enthusiasm and joy.
As the debate continues on how best to educate children, and how much that education should cost, it’s important for children to know that education of any type is valuable, though not all education will make one a living.
There are many ways out there to earn money, regardless of education. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau.
Meanwhile, as a society, we need to find the best way to educate children for today’s world. We also know that education that creates enthusiasm among students can only benefit them in the long run.
Peter
HOW TO BE A HAPPY RETIREE
#HappyRetirement #GiveBack #StayPositive
Happiness in retirement may not entirely be based on how much money one saves for that purpose.
Many other things go into it, according to Wes Moss, chief investment strategist for the Atlanta-based Capital Investment Advisors, host of the “Money Matters” show on WSB radio in Atlanta and personal finance columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He discussed his eight rules for a happy retirement in his newspaper column June 7, 2016.
His eight rules include: 1) Skip the BMW. Own a car that is comfortable, reliable and affordable. 2) Stay the course on investments. Don’t chase the next “hot stock.” 3) Give back. Find a cause you care about and contribute your time, talent and money. 4) Don’t move or renovate. Make sure you are happy with your home before you stop working. 5) Buy the big stuff before you retire. When you spend your money is just as important as how much you spend. 6) Start now. He writes that 44 percent of unhappy retirees in Moss’ study group were dissatisfied with how much retirement planning they’d done. 7) Know your rich ratio – the amount of money you have in relation to what you need. Or, monthly income divided by monthly expenses. 8) Stay positive. People probably won’t retire when they want to because they don’t believe they can, he says.
It’s certainly important to save for retirement, starting at the youngest age possible. Some in previous generations did not begin saving until their children were adults, or near adulthood.
With the job situation very fluid today, one should not expect to work for as long as he or she wants. People are very often retired early not by their own choosing. If you’ve developed good saving and investing habits as a young person, you need not fear this problem.
Also, one should always have a Plan B, in case a good job goes away prematurely. It’s difficult to be a happy retiree when one is forced into the situation. One Plan B might be to turn a hobby into an income-producing activity. Another might be extensive, careful investing throughout your life.
There are other Plan Bs that allow people to make additional income without the need for an extra traditional W-2 job. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau
As Moss writes, retirement is more than just sitting in a chair resting from years of labor.
It’s meant to be an enjoyable part of your life. You can certainly do things you love to do, but many experts say that it’s best to have a purpose in life, no matter what your age. That’s probably where Moss’ “give back” rule comes in.
“The happiest retirees envisioned a future and worked consistently toward that future with optimism – secure in the knowledge that while the economy and stock market can be a crazy ride, the long-term trend has been decisively positive,” Moss writes.
If you are young, think about when you might want to stop working, and prepare for that time. Set a goal. Follow Moss’ advice and don’t let fear and pessimism kill your dreams. Enjoy your young life, but also prepare for a good life as you get older.
Always have in the back of your mind that one day, the good job you have might disappear. If it doesn’t, you will have lucked out. If it does, the well-prepared person will goforth knowing he’s done his best to be happy in the face of an unexpected turn.
We can’t control our circumstances, but we can do what we can to react positively when things don’t go as we would want.
Peter
GRIT IS A GOOD THING, BUT …
#grit #innovate #GradePointAverage
Creative people are good at asking new questions, but the grade-point average rewards those who can answer other people’s questions.
So writes New York Times columnist David Brooks, in a column published in the May 13, 2016, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Brooks calls the grade-point average “one of the more destructive elements in American education.”
“In life, we want independent thinking and risk-taking, but the GPA system encourages students to be deferential and risk-averse, giving their teachers what they want,” Brooks writes.
In other words, the education system highly rewards students who are good at a lot of things, rather than those who are very good at one or two things.
Even if you are not good at something, the education system wants students to use their grit, and do things they don’t like, to grind out a good GPA.
There is certainly nothing wrong with grit. It helps people overcome obstacles and gets people through difficult times.
But the education system is designed for students to learn things, and they are evaluated by how well they can spit those things back.
“Schools across America are busy teaching their students to be gritty and to have ‘character’ – by which they mean skills like self-discipline and resilience that contribute to career success,” Brooks writes.
In other words, they teach kids to be good employees, rather than innovators.
In today’s world, innovators are handsomely rewarded, providing they solve a problem that needs solving.
In one adage, the “A” students end up working for the “C” students.
How does one deal with this?
There are a couple of ways. First, be a rebel.
Take the grit that you learned to develop in school, and use it to innovate.
Thomas Edison tried many times before he successfully invented the light bulb, so he had enough grit to know to stay with his idea.
If you are not an innovator, or if you have resigned yourself that you will work for someone else forever, there are many alternative ways to make money outside of a traditional job. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. Sometimes duplication, rather than innovation, can create potential fortunes.
As for the education system, it’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Learning is difficult to quantify, and the GPA system is, up to now, the best way educators have found to quantify learning.
In recent times, an array of competency tests has come into vogue. These tests have been used to evaluate teachers, much to the chagrin of the educators.
A good teacher should not be penalized, since students’ performance on competency tests can be attributed to many things.
So use the education system to cultivate grit, but use that grit to go out and do great things for others.
Peter
HOW TO BE A HAPPY RETIREE
#retirement #happiness # StayPositive
Happiness in retirement may not entirely be based on how much money one saves for that purpose.
Many other things go into it, according to Wes Moss, chief investment strategist for the Atlanta-based Capital Investment Advisors, host of the “Money Matters” show on WSB radio in Atlanta and personal finance columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He discussed his eight rules for a happy retirement in his newspaper column published June 7, 2016.
His eight rules include: 1) Skip the BMW. Own a car that is comfortable, reliable and affordable. 2) Stay the course on investments. Don’t chase the next “hot stock.” 3) Give back. Find a cause you care about and contribute your time, talent and money. 4) Don’t move or renovate. Make sure you are happy with your home before you stop working. 5) Buy the big stuff before you retire. When you spend your money is just as important as how much you spend. 6) Start now. He writes that 44 percent of unhappy retirees in Moss’ study group were dissatisfied with how much retirement planning they’d done. 7) Know your rich ratio – the amount of money you have in relation to what you need. Or, monthly income divided by monthly expenses. 8) Stay positive. People probably won’t retire when they want to because they don’t believe they can, he says.
It’s certainly important to save for retirement, starting at the youngest age possible. Some in previous generations did not begin saving until their children were adults.
With the job situation very fluid today, one should not expect to work for as long as he or she wants. People are very often retired early not by their own choosing. If you’ve developed good saving and investing habits as a young person, you need not fear this problem.
Also, one should always have a Plan B, in case a good job goes away prematurely. It’s difficult to be a happy retiree when one is forced into the situation. One Plan B might be to turn a hobby into an income-producing activity. Another might be extensive, careful investing throughout your life.
There are other Plan Bs that allow people to make additional income without the need for a traditional W-2 job. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau
As Moss writes, retirement is more than just sitting in a chair resting from years of labor.
It’s meant to be an enjoyable part of your life. You can certainly do things you love to do, but many experts say that it’s best to have a purpose in life, no matter what your age. That’s probably where Moss’ “give back” rule comes in.
“The happiest retirees envisioned a future and worked consistently toward that future with optimism – secure in the knowledge that while the economy and stock market can be a crazy ride, the long-term trend has been decisively positive,” Moss writes.
If you are young, think about when you might want to stop working, and prepare for that time. Set a goal. Follow Moss’ advice and don’t let fear and pessimism kill your dreams. Enjoy your young life, but also prepare for a good life as you get older.
Always have in the back of your mind that one day, the good job you have might disappear. If it doesn’t, you will have lucked out. If it does, the well-prepared person will go forth knowing he’s done his best to be happy in the face of an unexpected turn.
We can’t control our circumstances, but we can do what we can to react positively when things don’t go as we would want.
Peter
LITTLE LOVES, BIG LOVES AND WHAT’S NEEDED
#LittleLoves #BigLoves #DreamBig
We all have little loves in our lives. We also have big loves.
What’s the difference?
New York Times columnist David Brooks discussed this in a column published June 4, 2016, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
One might think that little loves are for our favorite foods, and big loves might be for our family. That’s not the case, as Brooks writes.
“In daily life, we have big and little loves,” Brooks writes. “The little loves, like for one’s children, one’s neighborhood or one’s garden, animate nurture, compassion and care. The big loves, like for America or the cause of global human rights, inspire courage and greatness,” Brooks writes.
In other words, the little loves are beautiful and are intimate and romantic. The big loves are sublime, and inspire awe – “what you might feel when you look at a mountain range or tornado,” Brooks writes.
He says the little loves are fraying in today’s society, and big loves are almost a foreign language. Pessimism is in vogue, according to Brooks.
Why is pessimism in vogue? Certainly, a lot of folks have gone through hard times in recent years. The security we had known just a decade ago is either gone or disappearing.
Yes, there is reason for some to be pessimistic. When a secure foundation suddenly gives way, one can be shaken.
When one is shaken, he must learn, to quote a Taylor Swift song title, to “Shake It Off.”
That’s easier said than done, to be sure. So one must start with recognizing what is good in his life. Family, friends etc., make a life, while a job makes a living.
When your living goes away, your life does not. That’s a good place to start to “Shake It Off.”
When your living goes away, you must replace it. Getting a new job that pays as much as the one you just lost can be as much of a challenge as scaling Mt. Everest. So, what can one do?
There are many ways out there to make money without a traditional job. To check out one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. To those open to looking outside the traditional job-for-money arena, these alternatives may provide an enlightening escape.
“Before the country can achieve great things, it has to relearn the ability to desire big things,” Brooks concludes. “It has to be willing to love again, even amid disappointments – to love things that are awesome, heroic and sublime.”
You CAN dream big. You can believe that, perhaps, by adjusting your outlook on life and your pursuit of a living, the big loves will return and the little loves will become greater.
Consuming pessimism wastes energy. Consuming optimism brings great relief. Perhaps your parents told you as you went to bed as a child not to let the bedbugs bite. Today’s “bedbugs” keep many people up at night. Fight them. Fumigate them from your mind. It’s OK to stay involved and aware of what’s going on, but don’t let bad things control your thoughts.
Don’t wish for life to get better, while believing it will only get worse. Embrace what is good. Fondly remember the past, but believe the future will be better than the present.
Dream big again, and bring back the big loves.
Peter
NEW RULES FOR RETIREMENT INVESTMENTS
#retirement #investments #NewRulesForRetirementInvestments
Like eating and sleeping, choosing how to invest for retirement is a necessity of life.
The number of options makes the choice more difficult.
What may be good news is that new federal rules encourage brokers and other investment sales folks to make the client’s interest a priority, regardless of how much the broker may lose in fees.
Russell Grantham, a business reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, discussed these new rules in an April 24, 2016, article.
Baby boomers are starting to retire in large numbers, and these new rules are designed to ease the burden of choosing the correct investments for them.
As Grantham’s article points out, though, the new rules may discourage some brokers from dealing with clients that have small nest eggs. It could increase brokers’ costs, he writes.
The rules are among the biggest changes in the financial industry in generations, Grantham writes.
The financial industry sometimes gets a bad reputation. Not everyone in the industry looks out for his or her own interests over his or her clients’ interests.
The bottom line for investors, regardless of how much money they have, is to find someone trustworthy to manage their hard-earned money.
Someone trustworthy will always have your best interests at heart. Someone trustworthy will manage risk according to his client’s tolerance.
Someone trustworthy won’t be calling his clients daily, attempting to generate trades that may or may not be in the client’s best interest. Someone trustworthy won’t steer clients into investments that pay brokers the highest commissions/fees, if they are not in the clients’ best interest.
Also, the financial industry is extremely competitive. Those who work in it must not just make a living, but also must make money. A great way to judge an investment adviser is by how much he or she is making for YOU. Generally, advisers don’t last in the business if their clients are making puny returns, or are sustaining heavy losses.
Know, too, that the financial markets don’t go up in a straight line. There will be some down times throughout any investment market.
But good advisers will get clients’ through the tough times with minimal, if any, losses.
Though the markets don’t generally go up in a straight line, they generally go up over time. Beware the financial adviser who predicts doom, and encourages clients to pull everything out and turn everything to cash. Although it’s nice to have some cash available, cash by itself generates little or no return.
All this discussion about rules for advisers begs another question: how much money do you have for your retirement, and are you investing it properly? If you don’t believe you have enough for your retirement, and don’t know how you are going to get what you need as you age, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. There are many ways to generate extra income, and this is one of the best.
So choose your investment adviser carefully, if you haven’t done so already. Talk to several before you decide. Make sure the person you choose understands how much risk you can stand. Make sure, too, that he or she creates a balanced portfolio for you, and isn’t so conservative that your returns will be puny.
You’ll know by talking to different advisers whether you can trust them. Regardless of the rules they have to live by, trust is the main thing to look for in an adviser. The adviser’s job is not just to make you money, but also give you peace of mind.
Peter
LASHING OUT AT WORK: EGO DEPLETION
#WorkRage #EgoDepletion #RegulateEmotions
Perhaps you got stuck in traffic.
Perhaps you were on hold – with that annoying music – for a half-hour while trying to order something.
These types of things trigger anger. Though we may try hard not to take that anger out on others, sometimes the self-regulatory mechanism is so depleted, we lose control.
Such are the findings of Stephen Courtright, assistant professor of management at Texas A&M University, who is researching why bosses lash out in the workplace.
Courtright’s work was discussed by Kris B. Mamula in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and recently published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Courtright calls the situation in which one loses the ability to regulate one’s emotions “ego depletion.” You may know someone who has shown this, or you may have shown it yourself on occasion.
One can replenish one’s ego over time, Mamula writes. “If you are experiencing anger in the workplace, strategically choose things to regain control in order to control anger,” Mamula quotes Courtright.
About 14 percent of employees in the United States are victims of nonphysical workplace aggression, Mamula writes.
As a result, corporations lose about $23.8 billion annually in lost productivity, grievance procedures and health care costs from abusive supervisors and related behavior, Mamula quotes a 2007 study.
Sometimes, victims of such abuse have very little recourse, other than to find a new place to work.
Would it be nice to work from home, for yourself, so that you can only get mad at yourself, and no one can take out his anger on you? If you think so, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You’ll find stories of people who have ditched that traditional J-O-B in favor of working for themselves AND, more importantly, helping others do the same.
Authority doesn’t make a leader. Bluster is not an effective motivational tool. Leaders tend to work FOR those who technically work for them. They do everything possible to make sure their teams are as productive as they can be. They do all they can to minimize stress. They do everything possible to make them a pleasure to be around.
No one should have to be abused in the workplace. No one should have to work for someone who beats up people emotionally. It’s not good for the employees, and not good for the business as a whole.
Particularly if you have employees working for you, work to find the things in your life that upset you. Often, it has nothing to do with the employees or their work. Perhaps there are stress inducers at home, or elsewhere in your life.
“Simply put, conflict at home taxes the emotional stamina needed to absorb everyday conflicts outside the home, which can lead to mental fatigue and abusive behavior at work,” Mamula writes.
In other words, lighten up, loosen up, let things go. You and those you work with will be much happier and more productive.
Peter
NEW RULES FOR INVESTING: HOW WILL THEY AFFECT YOU?
#retirement #investments #NewRulesForInvesting
Like eating and sleeping, choosing how to invest for retirement is a necessity of life.
The number of options makes the choice more difficult.
What may be good news is that new federal rules encourage brokers and other investment sales folks to make the client’s interest a priority, regardless of how much the broker may lose in fees.
Russell Grantham, a business reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, discussed these new rules in an April 24, 2016, article.
Baby boomers are starting to retire in large numbers, and these new rules are designed to ease the burden of choosing the correct investments for them.
As Grantham’s article points out, though, the new rules may discourage some brokers from dealing with clients that have small nest eggs. It could increase brokers’ costs, he writes.
The rules are among the biggest changes in the financial industry in generations, Grantham writes.
The financial industry sometimes gets a bad reputation. Not everyone in the industry looks out for his or her own interests over his or her clients’ interests.
The bottom line for investors, regardless of how much money they have, is to find someone trustworthy to manage their hard-earned money.
Someone trustworthy will always have your best interests at heart. Someone trustworthy will manage risk according to his client’s tolerance.
Someone trustworthy won’t be calling his clients daily, attempting to generate trades that may or may not be in the client’s best interest.
Also, the financial industry is extremely competitive. Those who work in it must not just make a living, but also must make money. A great way to judge an investment adviser is by how much he or she is making for YOU. Generally, advisers don’t last in the business if their clients are making puny returns, or are sustaining heavy losses.
Know, too, that the financial markets don’t go up in a straight line. There will be some down times throughout any investment market.
But good advisers will get clients through the tough times with minimal, if any, losses.
Though the markets don’t generally go up in a straight line, they generally go up over time. Beware the financial adviser who predicts doom, and encourages clients to pull everything out and turn everything to cash. Although it’s nice to have some cash available, cash by itself generates little or no return.
All this discussion about rules for advisers begs another question: how much money do you have for your retirement, and are you investing it properly? If you don’t believe you have enough for your retirement, and don’t know how you are going to get what you need as you age, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. There are many ways to generate extra income, and this is one of the best.
So choose your investment adviser carefully, if you haven’t done so already. Talk to several before you decide. Make sure the person you choose understands how much risk you can stand. Make sure, too, that he or she creates a balanced portfolio for you, and isn’t so conservative that your returns will be puny.
You’ll know by talking to different advisers whether you can trust them. Regardless of the rules they have to live by, trust is the main thing to look for in an adviser. The adviser’s job is not just to make you money, but also give you peace of mind.
Peter