J. Michael Bishop, JD
Smiley Bishop & Porter, LLP
1050 Crowne Pointe Parkway
Suite 1250
Atlanta, GA  30338
770-829-3850

Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance

Interest rates on bank CDs and money market funds have been at historic lows over the last several years. Sure, everyone wants to make more income from their assets. But always remember there is no free lunch. No matter what a salesman might tell you, with bigger returns come bigger risks.

In an effort to attract seniors’ retirement funds, Wall Street has introduced an array of increasingly complex products that promise investors higher yields than are available from CDs or government bonds. Unfortunately, most of these products carry the danger that an investor can lose most or all of his or her principal investment. In many instances, higher yielding investments are simply inappropriate for seniors seeking to preserve their assets and should not be recommended by stockbrokers, financial advisors or investment advisors.  Read more on Article of the week: "Beware: Higher Yielding Investments Can Have Higher Risks"…

By J. Michael Bishop, JD
Smiley Bishop & Porter, LLP
Atlanta, Georgia
770-829-3850

Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance,
Georgia chapter

Six months have passed since Betty's husband Joe died. Betty always let Joe handle the money matters. He had always been a savvy investor, but in the last several years, it had become obvious that Joe really was not on top of his game.

Now, Betty asked her daughter Sarah to help her look through the couple's financial papers. Things are a mess. There are piles of unopened envelopes from brokerage firms, mutual fund companies and banks. As Sarah opens the statements, she becomes distressed because the brokerage accounts have suffered some significant losses due to a downturn in the stock market or is something else wrong? How can she tell? Read more on Caveat emptor – Stockbroker fraud…