Complete Finance Blog

Although it sounds like an exotic cocktail, Brinker’s Absolute Return Mixer app provides financial advisers with a simple way to calculate the optimal mix of relative-return and absolute-return strategies for each client’s portfolio.

It’s not exactly Angry Birds, but it’s fun, said Brinker president John Coyne, referring to the wildly popular smartphone game.

Once downloaded, the app leads advisers through a series of eight questions regarding the client’s investing time horizon, risk tolerance and investing future, generating a range of recommended absolute- and relative-return allocations. It’s available in Apple’s App Store and in the Android Market.

When asked whether he expects advisers to suggest that their clients also download it, Mr. Coyne said that he isn’t sure.

I’d love nothing better than to have the Smith Barney advisers of the world say [to their clients], “Hey, take a look at this. I want to talk to you about it in Friday’s meeting,’ Mr. Coyne said.

Coming up with the app in the first place had a lot to do with creating ways to better communicate with younger investors, including Generation X and Y prospects, he said.

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I’ve been reading some history, from Simon Johnson and James Kwak’s new book, White House Burning. And it strikes me how ahistorical (or just plain ignorant of history) so many of the prescriptions for fixing up the economy are. For instance, the tax cutting ideology of today is merely a recapitulation of what has caused America to come to grief at the Nation’s birth.

From White House Burning, on the lead-up to the War of 1812:

… the War Hawks were ideologically and politically opposed to taxes—particularly the excise (internal trade) taxes that Gallatin wanted to impose. As the party of small government, the Democratic-Republicans believed that higher tax revenues constituted a threat to individuals’ and states’ rights. Perhaps more importantly, they feared that raising taxes to fight a war could hurt them at the ballot box. …

Hampered by Congress’s reluctance to raise taxes, the Treasury Department struggled to pay for soldiers in the field and ships at sea. … Congress finally agreed to impose excise taxes in 1813, but it was too late to build up a world-class military. … In August 1814, British forces sailed into Patuxent. … The sol

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Each morning, I receive an email from Amazon.com inviting me to participate in their Deal of the Day a low price offering only available for a short time. Most days I simply delete the email and move on.

Recently, Ive been tempted by several of their deals. First, there was a complete collection of The Little Rascals. Then there was a 32GB memory card at a deep discount. I noticed it was becoming more and more difficult to resist the temptation to click Add to Cart and part ways with my money, so I unsubscribed.

In fact, over the last several weeks I have unsubscribed from a number of similar Daily Deal websites, paper catalogs, etc. When I receive a paper catalog in the mail, I call up the customer service number and ask that they remove me from their mailing list.

Yes, I may miss out on an occasional deal, but Im OK with that. I am trying to be more intentional with my spending. When I need something, I will seek out coupons and deals, but I prefer not to receive a constant reminder to spend money in my inbox at 5:15am every day. It starts my day off on the wrong foot especially when it is a no spend day!

To expand this exercise a bit, consider all the forms of advertisements we are faced with in a day.

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The most regulated industries in our country – healthcare, education, and financial services, among others – are also the largest. For example, healthcare provides 14.3 million jobs in our country; education, 13.5 million. In order to ensure standard compliance and safety throughout these industries and across millions of people, and to minimize any risks that may put workers or entire businesses in jeopardy, it’s necessary that business owners and hiring managers conduct thorough employment background checks.

If you’re looking to fill a position in any of the following industries, be attentive to the recommended reports and verifications that will help you consistently hire quality employees. Some industries are more complicated than others, and you may consider contracting a private employee background check company to ensure a thorough screening.

Healthcare

The healthcare industry is one of the most highly regulated in our country. If you’

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