Letters to the editor: February 25

A day doesn’t go by without some “expert” calling for a huge sell-off in the bond market.

Comments such as “bonds are a bubble” and “bonds are way overvalued” are common.

In addition, the so-called experts are almost unanimous in their recommendations to shorten duration risk.

I have been in the investment business for more than 30 years, and one thing I know for certain is that when you have an almost universal consensus, it proves to be wrong.

I ask the so-called experts to name me one instance where universal consensus on the direction of interest rates, stock prices, commodities, currencies or real estate proved to be correct. Or maybe it is different this time?

As an investment adviser, I find those the scariest words I have ever heard.

Barry Rabinowitz

Principal

BER Financial Group LLC

Plantation, Fla.

The On Retirement column “Retirement planning can hurt health” (InvestmentNews, Feb. 11) was an excellent look at Medicare and the tax treatment of benefits.

Often when I try to explain this to clients, I get nowhere.

It is complex, and many clients can’t grasp the consequences of poor planning.

I blame much on my industry for not educating properly. So when I give clients a new idea to consider, it is so foreign to them, they can’t understand.

Keep up these great articles.

Scot Hanson

Financial adviser

EFS Advisors

Cambridge, Minn.

I enjoyed the blog by Mary Beth Franklin “How self-employment made my season bright” (InvestmentNews, Jan. 14). 

You might be interested to know that if you were to set up as a C corporation, you could deduct your entire long-term-care insurance premium, not just the age-based amount.

In addition, if you had children under 18, you could hire them in your business and have no payroll taxes on their wages, which would be deductible from the business income.

Judith L. Seid

Certified financial planner

Blue Summit Wealth Management Inc.

La Mesa, Calif.

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