Financial planners (not panners) everywhere beat the drum of retirement programs and all of the substantial benefits they offer. The span of this message should not be understated – from popular financial gurus on TV to your local neighborhood financial planner, from local and national newspaper articles to financial magazines and online media, from anywhere to everywhere – it is perfectly reasonable to state that the general consensus holds 401ks and similar type retirement plans are *the* way to plan for a successful retirement.

Relatively speaking, 401ks and similar retirement plan structures are a [...]

The truth hurts. Initially, truth can be shocking, hurtful, surreal, and utterly amazing – but its longer term nature is always liberating as it provides a solid foundation to make forward progress. With truth comes change, whether desired or not, and eventually a new sense of hope.

The Financial Panner sees 2010 being a year where many economic and market truths, a number of which are not mainstream, ascend the dam of deceit and rapidly immerse us all dispassionately. Though many still will not wish to recognize and accept them, these truths will begin to be accepted by a majority as commonplace. [...]

The Financial Panner commonly references and highlights “Markets at a Glance”, a monthly report put out by Sprott Asset Management. The report’s content is excellent and the latest issue, titled “Is it all just a Ponzi scheme?”, is no different.

This month, the December 2009 report from Sprott Asset Management attempts to discover which entities funded the massive $1.885 Trillion in US Treasury debt issued in fiscal year 2009. The investigation reveals a startling conclusion – someone, perhaps Santa Claus himself, provided an extra $528 Billion to ensure the global economy ran smoothly and it was business as usual for financial markets.

The following are key highlights from the report: [...]

In December of 1913, the Federal Reserve Act was passed. Nearly 100 years later, the quasi-governmental agency that the act created, commonly referred to as the Federal Reserve System, is at the center of a heated debate which could eventually result in its removal.

Ron Paul appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box yesterday morning, December 15, 2009, to provide an update on his Audit the Fed bill H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, as well as debate opponents to his well backed legislation head on. Make no mistake, the fact that topics broached during this interview are now being entertained in such a mainstream and public domain is astonishing.

As usual, Ron Paul provides a historical context as well as [...]