FREEMAN-SPICER FINANCIAL SERVICES
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Vol. 26, No. 1 • January, 2008
You can find this newsletter and some past issues on the web @ www.Freeman-Spicer.com
A Little Dirt Won’t Hurt . . . . . . We live, the late paleontologist Steven Jay Gould said, in the “Age of Bacteria.” If that’s the case, we humans may want to make nice and stop treating our relationship with those numerous bugs like an epic battle. “Everything that’s alive in this world today got here by learning to thrive in [spite of] infection,” says Gerald Callahan, an immunologist at Colorado State University and author of Infection: The Uninvited Universe. Bacteria that routinely inhabit our bodies actually produce vitamins and proteins we need and help make our immune and gastrointestinal systems work. Being excessively intolerant of bacteria can harm you, says Stuart Levy, microbiologist at Tufts University School of Medicine. Overuse of antibiotics can cause resistant bacteria; potentially, so can antibacterial hand soaps or cleaning products, which in the lab facilitate the growth of bacteria that trump commonly used antibiotics. Levy prefers regular old soap and water. If you must, he says, “use an antibacterial that doesn’t leave a residue,” such as an alcohol-, peroxide-, or bleach based product. “Let your kid play in the dirt,” Levy adds. An overly hygienic infancy or childhood can raise a child’s risk of asthma, type 2 diabetes, and Crohn”s disease, studies suggest. Researchers have even found a soil microbe that appears to be helpful when it’s injected into certain kinds of patients. (Sarah Baldauf in U.S. News & World Report)
Feel Like Giving Me Your Money Now?. . . . . . . Once your adviser hears your concerns, get ready for the compelling solutions. Trouble is, his heartfelt assurance may be code for a terrible investment. (Money Magazine)
If you say . . . |
The Advisor Might Say . . . . |
The Problem |
A Better Answer |
I’m worried about a bear market. |
If we think the market is going to fall, we’ll move your money to safer investments. |
This is market timing; great in theory, but it rarely works for long. |
We’ll put you in a diversified portfolio and stick with it until the market rebounds. |
I’m afraid of outliving my wealth. |
We can lock in guaranteed income for life. |
You’ll be sold a bunch of high-fee annuities. |
We’ll develop a withdrawal strategy to minimize that possibility. |
I need high income |
We will find you the highest-yielding bonds. |
High yields always come with high risk. |
Buying high yield is risky and unnecessary. Let’s look at total return instead. |
I want someone who pays attention to the funds in my account. |
We select only the top performers and dump them if they lag behind others in their category. |
It’s a great way to make sure you always buy high and sell low. |
We’ll create a portfolio of low-cost funds that will beat most of their peers in the long run. |
Best Response of the Year . . . . . . . If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman. He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the policeman’s credibility . . . .
Q: Officer - - did you see my client fleeing the scene?
A: No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away.
Q: Officer - - who provided this description?
A: The officer who responded to the scene.
Q: A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?
A: Yes, sir. With my life.
Q: with your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?
A: Yes sir, we do!
Q: And do you have a locker in the room?
A: Yes sir, I do.
Q: And do you have a lock on your locker?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Now why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?
A: You see sir - - we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room.
The courtroom erupted in laughter, and a prompt recess was called. (LaFree)
Selling and Closing . . . . . . . Selling without closing is just conversation. You may handle every objection, make a perfect presentation or turn a stranger into a friend, but if you don’t get the order you have wasted your time. After you’ve handled each question or objection, close with a confirming question: an assumptive tie-down or a trial close. Each asks only for an opinion from the prospect. Assumptive tie-down: “This sounds better than you expected, doesn’t it?” or “This is a pretty good offer, don’t you think?” After a positive response, finalize the details. Trial close: “Are you feeling more sure about that now? Or “Based on what you know so far, how do you feel about the product? Positive answers signal a “go”! (Personal Selling Power)
“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.” Anonymous
Would You Rather . . . . . . “We would rather do business with 1000 Al Qaeda Terrorists than with one single American.”
This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia. You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement. However, we are a society which hold Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest liberty. And after all, it is just a sign. You may ask what kind of business would dare post such a sign. Answer: A Funeral Home! Who said morticians had no sense of humor? (O’Hara)
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” Pericles
Wake Up With a Yawn . . . . . . Never mind that stifling a yawn is the polite thing to do. The next time you feel the urge, open wide. Yawning drives away drowsiness by activating certain muscles to increase heart rate. It also appears to have a cooling effect on the brain, which heightens attentiveness, according to a recent study at the State University of New York - Albany. Researchers found that yawning decreased when volunteers held cool packs to their foreheads. “When you yawn, you take an usually large volume of air into the lungs, which sends a wave of cool blood to the brain,” explains study coauthor Gordon Gallup. He hypothesizes that mental processing slows down when the brain’s temperature rises above normal. In fact, paratroopers and skydivers often find themselves yawning before they jump, perhaps to enhance their brain function. Is yawning contagious? Actually, yes. Nearly half the study participants yawned while watching videotapes of others doing so. Gallup says yawns may spread by triggering an empathy reflex that keeps a group alert and on the lookout for predators. So yawn away. Or opt for the polite alternative: Breathing deeply through the nose has the same brain-cooling effect. (U.S. News & World Report)
Merry Recycling . . . . . . . Each January, the fish of Lake Havasu get a belated Christmas present: 400 or so used Yule trees, each stripped of ornaments, tied to a concrete block, and dumped in the water. Sounds like a gift from the Grinch. But if these fish could write thank-you notes, they would. The man-made desert lake, located in Arizona and California, has a barren floor; the trees form a reef to protect young bass, bluegills, and more. The cement overshoes keep trees from bobbing up and posing a risk to recreational boaters. Havasu’s anglers today catch more fish than in the past. Divers enjoy the novel sight - they tell program manager Kirk Koch that the needles and algae look like “a big green glob.” Within a decade, most of a tree will decompose into the muck. The Lake Havasu project is one of the more inventive tree repurposing efforts. More typically, trees are fed into chippers, creating mulch for trails or gardens. The group Earth 911 count 3,985 recycling projects in the U.S., up from 3,776 in 2003. But you do need to live nearby to take part. Keith Lovell, a coastal scientist, runs a Louisiana program that uses trees to fight erosion. Once he got a call from a potential donor. “What parish do you live in?” Lovell asked. The answer: New York City. (Marc Silver in National Geographic)
Some Yogi-Berr-isms To Think About . . . . . .
If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.
Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.
If the fans don’t come out to the ball park, you can’t stop them.
It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.
You can observe a lot just by watching. (LaFree)
In New Mexico, Wizmark Interactive has placed its new devices in bar and restaurant urinals. Activated by a motion sensor, it urges users to call a cab or ask a sober friend to drive them home, saying, in a cooing female voice: “Make the smart choice tonight. Don’t drink and drive. Remember, your future is in your
hand.” (B. Levy)
Three web sites to check on the e-mail that you get and want to pass on to your friend:
http://www.snopes.com - http://urbanlegends.about.com - http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org
Sincerely,
Edward C. Levy
President