- Bobby L. Hickman
Ransomware Threats Grow Larger
Businesses of all size face increasing cybersecurity threats, particularly from ransomware attacks, as the pandemic continues to affect how cybercriminals hack into the workplace.
“Malicious actors have taken advantage of the rapid transition to work-from-home and hybrid environments by targeting private corporations and government entities of all sizes,” cybersecurity experts Leeza Garber and Scott Olson told Advisors Magazine. “Everyone is a target.”
Garber, a legal analyst, consultant, and keynote speaker, is also an on-air analyst for Fox News and Fox Business News. Olson, a former FBI assistant special agent in charge of intelligence and counterintelligence, is founder and
- Joe Innace
U.S. Economic Outlook
A year jump-started with robust economic growth in the United States, 2021’s initially fast recovery shifted to lower gear as inflation worries, the persistence of the COVID-19 Delta variant, and supply chain woes emerged as speed bumps. Some caution flags are raised for 2022—with most economic forecasts seeing around a 4 percent growth rate for real gross domestic product (GDP)—but that’s still a solid cruising pace.
Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 6.7 percent in the second quarter of 2021, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). In the first quarter, real GDP increased 6.3 percent. But in the third quarter,
- Bobby L. Hickman
You Received a life insurance payout – now what?
Women and men who lose a spouse often receive substantial amounts of money as beneficiaries of a life insurance policy. If the couple previously engaged in financial and estate planning, the surviving spouse probably already has a roadmap of how the funds were intended to be used. But families who had not already planned ahead for the death of a spouse – or other relatives who were not expecting to receive an insurance payout – may not be prepared for the unanticipated windfall.
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Jan 04, 12:52 pm
Ransomware Threats Grow Larger
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Nov 10, 06:54 am
U.S. Economic Outlook
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Nov 08, 07:56 am
You Received a life insurance payout – now what?
- Barry Gilbert, PhD, CFA, Asset Allocation Strategist and Lawrence Gillum, CFA, Fixed Income Strategist, LPL Financial
Answering The Top Debt Ceiling Questions
Democrats and Republicans struck a deal last week to raise the debt ceiling, prompting a relief rally in equity markets. While failing to raise the debt ceiling was extremely unlikely, if it had happened it could have potentially done considerable damage to markets and the economy. But even approaching the deadline when the government would no longer be able to meet its obligations was having an impact. The mere appearance of Democrats and Republicans playing politics with the deadline was weighing on markets and forcing businesses to prepare for the very unlikely, but still possible, outcome of a government default.
The fuse is lit for cryptocurrencies to boom as a form of global payment, and within 12 to 24 months there will be a massive explosion in crypto being as readily accepted by merchants and others — as common as credit cards and cash are today.
That was the key takeaway after Advisors Magazine caught up in late August with entrepreneur Jason Butcher, CEO of CoinPayments.net – a global crypto payment gateway for merchants and the masses. Butcher said the global crypto gateway now counts 1.2 million clients.
Backed by a diverse group of strategic investors from the Boomer, Millennial and Gen Z generations and managed by a team of experienced Fintech builders, WonderFi will launch a platform (www.wonder.fi) in late September for potentially millions of consumers. Its Android, iOS and web-based apps promise to simplify user interaction with the emerging area of decentralized finance (DeFi) and make cryptocurrencies more accessible to the masses.
Shark Tank and Money Court TV personality Kevin O’Leary—Mr. Wonderful—went from being a cryptocurrency skeptic in 2017 to being one of the crypto’s most ardent flag
- Bill Millar
Financial Literacy Begins at the Dinner Table
In New Evidence on the Financial Knowledge and Characteristics of Investors, researchers from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) at the George Washington University School of Business find today’s investors are at risk of falling behind in financial literacy. In recent years and decades, the number of defined benefit programs has been in decline in favor of defined contributions plans such as 401Ks, leaving investors with greater responsibility for their own financial futures.
Nearly three-fourths of American teens admit they do not feel confident with their current knowledge about personal financial matters. Even more alarming, nearly half of the teens surveyed said they turn to social media first for financial guidance even though they – as an overall group – rank social media as the least trustworthy source available to them.
The results come from a national survey of more than 1,000 teens ranging from 13 to age 20 conducted by Greenlight Financial Technology “to better understand the state of financial