There may be a case where a reverse mortgage makes sense in very unique circumstances but, in real life, I’ve not seen one yet. If someone you know is considering taking out a reverse mortgage, send them this article and suggest that they get a second opinion.

Are you way behind in saving for retirement, or haven't started at all? Good news: There's a way out of your predicament! Follow these three basic principles religiously and, along with a little luck, you still should be able to achieve your long-term financial goals.

A short time ago I started looking at the question: "Is gold an effective hedge against a financial crisis?" Having studied the question in more detail, I find the answer is no, gold is not an effective hedge against a financial crisis. Here's why.

When prices are set by companies that can profit by manipulating or rigging them, we’re screwed. This “harvesting” of our money in ever-more-creative and hard-to-detect ways is not just stealing by reaching a hand into our pocket and taking out money, but stealing in which banks can hit a few keystrokes and magically make whatever is in our pocket worth less. This is corruption at the molecular level of the economy - space age stealing - and it’s only just coming into view.

Everyone must be wondering where this "unprecedented global financial crisis", (the World Bank's words), is heading. What follows, for what they are worth, are my cogitations on this crisis. Words: 1641

The Fed, together with other central banks from around the world, have created the perfect crescendo of worldwide credit bubbles and asset bubbles leading to the excesses and decadence which are the normal finale to a secular trend. They have totally destroyed all major world currencies and left the world with debts that cannot and will not be repaid with normal money. As such, there are only two alternative outcomes, debt default or hyperinflation. Both will have disastrous consequences for the world economy.

Hyperinflation is perhaps the darkest side of a government fiat money regime. Among mainstream economists, hyperinflation typically denotes a period of exceptionally strong increases in overall prices of goods and services, thus denoting a period of exceptionally strong erosion in the exchange value of money.

The 7 immutable (i.e. not subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or nature) laws of investing and how they apply to gold/silver and debt-ridden fiat currencies are:

We're not going back to a gold standard - anywhere - any time soon! Here are three simple reasons why not.

Russian Roulette: Put one bullet in the cylinder of a revolver, spin the cylinder, point the gun at YOUR head, and pull the trigger. Most revolvers have 6 chambers, so your odds of surviving are 5 in 6, IF you quit after pulling the trigger once. Press your luck, spin the cylinder, point the gun, and pull the trigger again. It might be okay. Try for a third time? Now let's play Russian roulette - derivatives style.