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The other day, I ran across an interesting article by Rick Ferri about how to go about investing a lump sum of cash. Should you dump it all in the market at once, or should you dollar cost average? Based on historical data, your highest expected return comes from investing it all at once.

Of course, with higher expected returns comes more risk and theyre just that, expected. While dollar cost averaging might reduce your expected returns, it also prevents you from investing it all at just the wrong moment. As such, many people would be more comfortable deploying their cash a little at a time.

For his part, Ferri suggests that you ask yourself four questions.

For starters, if your windfall is relatively small relative to your existing portfolio, Ferri suggests that you invest it all at once in your target allocation and be done with it. Ferris rule of thumb is 20%.

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2011 was quite a year, wasn’t it?

As the economy struggled to recover from the Great Recession, consumers felt as if they had great big targets painted on their backs whenever they went to the store. That frustration led to the “Occupy” protests that took root in many American cities this fall.

What did we learn from 2011 and what does it mean for next year?

When you’re down, unscrupulous businesses see an opportunity to enrich themselves. In March, the Federal Trade Commission stepped up efforts against scammers who promised jobs and “be your own boss” schemes to Americans who were looking for something – anything – to get them through their economic malaise. “Operation Empty Promises” resulted in 90 enforcement actions in 10 states, which represented a good start. More scammers are still out there though, so beware!

The Occupy Wall Street protests that erupted in 2011 certainly brought the problems of ordinary consumers into sharp focus. But beyond that, it

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A looming bankruptcy could be your worst nightmare. After all the planning and hard work, you have to face the fact that your business might not make it financially.

Your current accounts may be in arrears and your overdraft maxed out. You foresee that you might end up losing everything you have worked for. But all is not bad news. It is not the end of the world as everything is not what it seems.

You may be anxious that everybody will know that you have filed for bankruptcy. This is not true. There are so many people like you. You and your case will not be noticed by everyone.

What will affect you adversely is the fact that your self-confidence will be seriously compromised. It might take years before your self-esteem is what it has been before.

People believe that all their debts will be cleared away. There is, however, debt that will not be cleared. You will still be held responsible for child support, alimony and student loans.

Many people believe that they will never get credit again.

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Apparently, while Sheriff Arpaio was busy raiding businesses and zip-tieing everyone with brown skin and distracted by his attempts to arrest judges that handed down unfavorable decisions, there was actual violent crime happening in Maricopa County.  With the Sheriff busy with celebrities raiding homes suspected of cockfighting with tanks, minor stuff like rape got put on the back burner.  The story has just been discovered by the AP but it has been kicking around town for a while:

The Maricopa County Sheriffs Office failed to adequately investigate more than 400 sex-crime cases, including dozens in El Mirage, over a two-year period because of poor oversight and former Chief Deputy David Hendershotts desire to protect a key investigator from bad publicity, according to documents pertaining to a recent internal investigation released by the Sheriffs Office.

The errors led to interminable delays for victims of serious crimes who waited years for the attackers to be brought to justice, if they were ever caught.

More than 50 El Mirage sex-crime cases, most involving young children reportedly victimized by friends or family, went uninvestigated after police took an initial report. T

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By Gordon Platt

“Spreads are approaching levels we would expect to see in recessionary times,” according to Neuberger Berman, which manages approximately $13 billion of high-yield fixed-income securities for institutions and individuals. Treasury spreads rose above 1,000 basis points during the recessions of 1990 and 2002.

Current high-yield valuations look attractive, Neuberger Berman says. The current default rate for the trailing 12-month period is 1%, but the market is now pricing in an implied default rate in the 9% area, it says.

During the last two weeks of October, high-yield bond funds, which were pummeled in mid-August, took in a record $7.9 billion of inflows, as both retail and institutional investors dived back into the market, according to EPFR Global, a subsidiary of Informa of the UK. It said

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When the property sales are not profitable, there are still significant new business opportunities in real estate leasing. You just need to know the rents, expenses, leasing strategies, and incentives that make the deals together. To find a tenant is another important task. This is a common problem not only for landlords but for tenants as well. For example, you rent an apartment, but have to move out because of some circumstances, such as a new job or a cheaper place. Then you can find a tenant who will be able to take over your lease.

It is important to trust your instincts about finding a potential tenant.

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