We know from Mary Poppins that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down and, similarly, a healthy dose of humor is the best way to learn about something as baleful as personal finance. John Oliver does us all a good 20-minute service in nailing key points about retirement, in this bit from a few weeks ago.
The video is worth watching and includes such key points as:
- Annuities suck (Especially variable annuities, I should add).
- “Financial Advisor” is a meaningless title that tells you nothing about their qualifications.
- Fees matter a lot. A lot. A lot.
- Suze Orman has a crazed look on her face (ok that’s my own editorializing right there).
- Actively managed funds tend to lag passive funds, by approximately the amount of extra fees.
- Insurance companies are particularly egregious fee-chargers when it comes to financial services.
- Personal investing – despite the best efforts of the financial infotainment industrial complex – can be made startlingly simple.
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