Francis Kier

Investing vs. Trading: Who Cares Anyway?

The mutual fund industry requires customers that buy their funds and never sell them. So naturally, they disseminate a lot of editorial decrying any trading, market-timing or re-allocating that includes selling their mutual funds. This non-selling concept... Read >

Navigating the college savings programs

As a parent, the big financial concern with a newborn is how to set aside enough money to assist for a college education. Universities and state governments have developed many different financial savings plans to encourage parents to save money for colle... Read >

The Threshold between Wealth Creation & Destruction

Wealth is simply the accumulation of money, and it can only be created by the amount of money that is received and never spent. If you want to build wealth, then anytime you receive money: don't spend all of it. Sure it is a very simple concept, but it is... Read >

Can You Protect Your Portfolio from the Sales Teams?

When you make an investment – from a simple bank certificate of deposit to a large shopping mall – you are going to be buying from someone whose greatest skill is employing sales closing techniques. Their skill in closing a sale will not include safeguard... Read >

Curing Yourself from Leaky Wallet Syndrome

Financial stewardship of a business empire or $100 bill require a particular psychology if they are going to survive over time in the same hands. The lack of this same psychology is why most lottery winners cannot hold onto the giant sums of money they re... Read >

The Ultimate Tax Planning Strategy

The taxes that are withheld from paychecks amount to about 25% of your gross pay (including federal tax, state tax, social security tax and medicare tax). But these taxes that are withheld could be working for you as investments if you employ what I call ... Read >

Investing without brakes can be hazardous to your portfolio

The business of investing in stocks is an inventory "buying & selling" business. Naturally, the companies that sell stock to the public want you to buy and hold it forever in order to maintain its value. But if you are buying without any selling, you are ... Read >

Maximum return on your credit cards

There has been an explosion of credit cards that specialize in certain benefits over the last five years; reward points, cash back, 0% transfers, credit monitoring, discount gasoline, money-market savings, etc. So how do you get the most return from your ... Read >

Poor Man's Access to Foreign Currency Trading

By far, the largest trading market in the world is the foreign currency market. Speculators make up only a small part of the spot (cash market) and forward (futures market) currency exchange transactions. So if you are considering speculating in this area... Read >

Leverage Is The Only Way To Wealth

To build any serious income you have to use leverage. You accomplish this by spending your time creating and managing levers. I'd bet that if you are creative enough, you could probably create a lever on anything that can provide an income. Let me explain... Read >

Developing a successful home budget

This is probably the most requested topic that I receive, normally after someone gets a large unexpected expense, or they start thinking about retirement and realize that they have saved a woefully inadequate amount of money. I recommend using a monthl... Read >

Compound Interest Doesn't Add Much To Your Wealth

The biggest gripe that I have with a few famous financial planners is their myth and awe of compound interest. They say, "compound interest is the 8th Wonder of the World according to Einstein, and will make you a million for your retirement if you'd only... Read >