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Fran Tarkenton loves equity indexed annuities. That does not mean you should. Tarkenton is 79 years old and encouraging elders to purchase equity indexed annuities (also called fixed indexed annuities) as a way to protect themselves from elder financial abuse. That’s right. Fran Tarkenton is encouraging elders to purchase these high fees, non-liquid insurance products…

The American Bar Association recently published some very helpful guidance for lawyers in considering client capacity to make legal and other decisions. The most important directive is that the correct question is NOT whether a client has capacity — it is whether a client has capacity TO DO A PARTICULAR THING. Persons with significant cognitive…

Digital Coins Digital coins, virtual coins, tokens, or cryptocurrencies are bits of computer code. What makes this computer code special is that it is created on something called a “blockchain.” Blockchain technology allows people to engage in financial transactions directly with each other, without a bank or other financial intermediary. Transactions taking place on a…

Would you fix a pipe if you thought it might be leaking? Just like pipes in your home, your retirement accounts can be leaking excessive fees — which is money you could use in retirement. If you have a retirement account — like a 401(k) or 403(b) account — with a small or medium-sized employer,…

“It took Jennifer Sharkey more than eight years to get a trial over her dismissal from JPMorgan Chase & Co. A Manhattan jury needed only five hours to find the former wealth manager was fired illegally and award her $1.13 million in damages. Then, it took just an hour for a Manhattan judge to upend the verdict…

What should you do if you discover that your mother, father, or an elderly relative has inappropriate or suspicious investments? Do not ignore it. As difficult as this situation is for families, it is important to take action to protect our elderly family members before they lose a lifetime of hard-earned savings. Research 1) Go…

It is nice to see a state court take a skeptical look at Delaware corporate governance law. The Minnesota Supreme Court chose not to adopt Delaware law on an important corporate governance question — when is a shareholder’s claim “direct” as opposed to “derivative.” The decision is available here: In re Medtronic, Inc. Shareholder Litigation.  The…

There are numerous hidden fees that you should be looking for in employer retirement accounts like 401(k). This piece by John Wasik tells you about some of the biggies — surrender fees, back-end loads, front-end loads, and 12b-1 fees, which are marketing and distribution fees that you should not be paying. Paying 12b-1 fees for…

How does one get the tweets of @realDonaldTrump into evidence? This is an interesting question raised by Kelly Twigger in Above the Law this week. Above the Law – Are Donald Trump’s Tweets Self-Authenticating  It is a question that litigators face in seeking to admit all kinds of social media but it is more fun to…

When federal government employees recommend an investment adviser who steals employee retirement funds, “sovereign immunity” prevents recovery against the government. In many ways, the retirement savings of federal employees are safer than employees of private companies. The Thrift Savings Plan and other 401(k)-like plans offered by the federal government have fewer of the inappropriate investment…