Your guide to profitable and socially responsible investing

By Judith L. Seid, CFP ®

By now you've probably heard about the $50 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, a New York City broker, former head of the NASDAQ stock exchange. 

 

What did he do?  He allegedly collected money to invest from clients, made up false statements to show that they were doing well, and used new clients' money to pay interest and withdrawals to existing clients.  This is known as a Ponzi scheme and is estimated to involve more than a $50 billion loss for his investors.  This is one of several recent high-profile cases of advisors and/or managers absconding with funds entrusted to them by their clients.  Maddof held his clients' assets, managed them, and priced them, too.  See the conflicts of interest?  Investment performance can look better if the prices reported to clients are manipulated, which is allegedly how Madoff showed winning year after winning year despite market turmoil. 

By Janelle Eckardt

January
1, 2008 (San Diego) —  There is no denying that the oversaturation
of bright lights, holiday music, and the overabundance of sales successfully
lures us into shopping every year for that one special thing we may have written
off as excessive two months ago, but that is suddenly now budding into a necessity.
And while that glorious gadget that will simultaneously style your hair and
reorganize your PDA is still out-of-stock in January, you may consider marrying
your urge to boost the economy with the interest to provide a true necessity
for someone special in your life. Whether you're shopping for someone you know
or for yourself this year, it pays to be on top of all the new and exciting
adaptive technology coming out daily. So look out Burp-Me-Elmo, I'm highlighting
some of the best sources and products sure to bring lasting smiles long after
the holiday season.

Nothing but the Truth!

By Will Power

December
4, 2008 (San Diego) — The profitable is the enemy of the good. Nowhere
is this more true than in U.S. health care.  I’ve spent the last
two days on the phone with my Senators, Congressmen, the NIH and the FDA. I'm
rattling some cages!

By Sylvia Hampton

As I write this, my daughter’s relative by marriage and close friend
is in a Los Angeles hospital intensive care unit fighting for her life at age
46. The family told my daughter the following story:

“Peggy” (not her real name) had been feeling ill for some time
with abdominal pain that her doctor thought was from the uterine fibroids they
knew she had. The doctor was considering a hysterectomy to correct the problem.
When her pain and complaints worsened she was told to take ibuprofen. This
did not help and when she later could not get a call-back from the doctor,
in frustration, she increased the dose herself to a dangerous level. The pain
got so bad after a day or two that she ended up in the emergency room where
she was diagnosed with diverticulitis, an inflammation of the colon, which
was missed during the earlier office visit. Did she have an elevated temperature?
Was that checked?

Nothing but the Truth!

By Will Power

December
1, 2008 (San Diego) — When I was about five years old, my father
was a US Air Force Officer. He was involved in a Court-Martial in Wichita ,
Kansas. It seemed a considerable number of US Army blankets went missing, and
several airmen were charged with stealing the blankets and selling them off
the base. I don't even remember the disposition, though I recollect nobody
was found guilty.

Gratitude for Hard Times

By Penelope Young Andrade LCSW

Are you grateful for hard times?  Although you may welcome reminders to be grateful, you probably don’t strive to be grateful FOR hard times themselves.  If you’re like most of us, hard times are something you wish would pass as fast as possible. The problem is that hard times are usually your best teachers and provide profound gifts. Giving thanks for dark times is often a prerequisite for receiving these blessings.

By Richard Noel

Orfila employee Dolores Castaneda pours a generous taste for Shari Zollo (right) of Vista, who enjoyed the festivities with Barbara Deuel and Drea Zollo Bush (both of Oceanside).

“Oh yes, it’s Eighties night!”

For all those who still wear their sunglasses at night, you could have worn
them to Orfila Vineyards’ tasting room as the crew kept the doors open
late on October 23rd for a special evening of uncorked fun.  With a 1980s
music theme, wine club members and other visitors enjoyed listening to blasts
from the past while sipping the Escondido winery’s latest hits.  Tasting
room manager Benjamin Wier put together what may be the first of many more
late-night events to come, and pulled it off with the flair of a high school
reunion. 

VOTER’S WATCHDOG - Be a Good Citizen: Vote!

By Penelope Young Andrade, LCSW, guest columnist

Are you ready to be a good citizen? Like many of us, you may have some trouble
naming your Congressperson, or knowing the number of your Congressional district.
No blame. It’s easy to get caught in demands at home or work and forget
that one of your most important relationships is with your government – community,
city, state, and national.

By Billie Jo Jannen

Once upon a time, our power in many parts east of the line, was provided by
a cooperative formed, as many were in the wake of the New Deal, using both
local resources and a loan from the Rural Electrification Administration.

Between 1935 and the early 1970s, Mountain Empire Rural Electric Cooperative
built over 1,000 miles of power lines to serve remote places east of populated
areas then served by the growing for-profit company, San Diego Gas and Electric.

By Jamie Reno
Exclusive for East County Magazine

October 15, 2008 (Tierrasanta) - Morning has broken. As the sun rises over the East County, a sense of calm permeates my body. Yesterday morning, when I started writing this column for East County Magazine on the new fire threats, it was a different story. I was filled with anxiety. The theme of the piece I was about to write had pretty much been decided for me: Oh, no, here we go again!

Nothing but the Truth!

By Will Power

October
14, 2008 (San Diego) - When John McCain accidentally referred to “My
Fellow Americans” as “My Fellow Prisoners” this week, he
was right on one account. We are all prisoners of the National Debt – currently
$10 trillion and rising rapidly.

This
information is important for everyone, but especially for newly registered
voters.  Please forward, post or printout this information.  Avoid
confusion on Election Day and make sure everyone gets to the correct polling
place to avoid use of Provisional Ballots.

Why you should vote—and how to be a smart voter

By Miriam Raftery

October
1, 2008 (San Diego’s East County) --  Your
vote does count!

John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States by just one vote
per precinct nationwide.  Some local races have been decided by just a
handful of votes.

Decisions made in the November 4 election will impact the future of us all.

By Miriam Raftery

October 1, 2008 (San Diego's East County) -Sorting
out truth from fiction in political races is challenging.   If
you didn’t watch the first presidential debate, for example, you might
get a radically different perspective on how the candidates fared if you’re
listening to a right-wing or left-wing media commentator—or the campaigns
themselves. (If you missed it, you can view a video of the full debate, narrated
by Jim Lehrer of PBS, on YouTube.