Education Center/Links/Suggested Readings

Education Center:

Newsletter

Topics include: Unrelated Business Income Tax and how this may affect your IRA and Dealing with Inherited IRAs.

Speaking

Eric Wikstrom was the featured guest speaker of Pensco Trust Company's November 2006 monthly Webinar Series. Eric's topic was How your IRA can benefit from the Unrelated Business Income Tax and Leverage. This webinar can be downloaded to an MP3 file from Pensco Trust Company's website at: Pensco Trust - Webinar Series

Erik Wikstrom - Talk Radio Interview
Talking $ and Making ¢

Links:

Self-directed IRA/401(k) information:

www.PenscoTrust.com

If you're contemplating making any self-directed investments with your retirement account, I'd highly recommend looking at this site. Pensco Trust fills their website with very useful information and in particular their "eBook" (available for download) provides answers to 50 of the most relevant questions about self-directed IRAs. In addition, you can download account forms and open an account from their site.

"IRA Wealth - Revolutionary IRA Strategies for Real Estate Investment"

Written in 2003 by Patrick Rice, this is the best book explaining how to turn your old IRA into a self-directed account that puts you in charge. Written in a very understandable manner with lots of great examples, this book is a must read for anyone interested in expanding their horizons beyond stocks, bonds and mutual funds. This book can be purchased directly from IRA Resource Associates, Inc..

Suggested Investment Readings:

I believe that every investor, whether you are working with a financial advisor or are a do-it-yourselfer, owes it to him or herself to become knowledgeable and informed about investing. As I've mentioned previously, every investor needs to develop an investment philosophy and these books will help you develop yours. The following books are very well written and will be relevant reading years from now.

1. The Four Pillars of Investing and The Intelligent Asset Allocator, both by William Bernstein. A very unique individual who is actually a neurologist in Oregon, William Bernstein has made a name for himself by questioning the value of traditional Wall Street thinking. Although The Intelligent Asset Allocator came out first (2001), I'd start with The Four Pillars of Investing as this book breaks the concepts down into: A) The Theory of Investing, B) The History of Investing, C) The Psychology of Investing, and D) The Business of Investing. After you've digested book #1, move on to the Asset Allocator to learn about the effects of combining asset classes. Bernstein is a great writer and you'll truly enjoy these books.
2. Winning the Loser's Game, by Charles D. Ellis. You should not make one more investment before you read this book. When you're done with this one, you'll give serious consideration to your investment process and wonder why you're competing against professional investors (mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies) who basically have become "the market."
3. The Terrible Truth About Investing, by Bruce J. Temkin. A practical guide that looks at investor behavior and focuses on providing investment principles to individual investors. Reading and re-reading this book will help you to remain a savvy investor.
4. Global Investing, by Roger G. Ibbotson and Gary P. Brinson.  Sophisticated investors realize that an investment portfolio's most exciting and lucrative opportunities are found globally and extend beyond the U.S. borders.  This is a great book on the history of investible assets, something an informed investor can't know enough about.
5. The (Mis) Behavior of Markets, by Benoit Mandelbrot.  I'd suggest you read this book last.  The inventor of fractal geometry, Mandelbrot reveals in a very scientific way how the markets are far riskier than we would like to believe.  He also examines how the world of finance can be understood in more accurate and sometimes more volatile terms than the older theories of yesteryear.