Podcasts

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Yishai discusses the desire for the PLO to achieve de facto statehood in the UN by becoming an observer state. Yishai moves on to discuss how the instability in Syria has begun to spill into Turkey and also how the relationship between the Kurds and Iraqis has not improved by providing audio from PBS.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

What is market design, and how is it applied to daily life? In part 2 of the Goldstein on Gelt show this week, we meet Professor Alvin Roth, a professor of economics at Stanford University, who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2012 for his work on market design. Professor Roth tells us how his matching programs are applied to kidney donation, getting married, and students choosing residency programs. Listen to this great interview to learn more.

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Yishai broadcasts from Jerusalem’s International Convention Center while waiting for Malkah to vote in the Likud primaries.  While waiting on line (or is it in line?) Yishai interviews Daniel Tauber, who is running in the Likud list.  Together, they talk about the core values of the Likud party and how they also discuss some of the candidates that are on the list and which would work best for Israel.  Back in the studio, Yishai and Malkah discuss Malkah’s experience with actually voting in the primaries and how system issues were continually causing delays during the voting process.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai and Malkah kick off by discussing a letter received from a listener and how the threat of rocket attacks across Israel is still a real one.  They move on to talk about the threat presented to Israel by Hizbullah in Lebanon and how the world is turning a blind eye to the civil war that is raging in Syria.  They also discuss the mobilization of IDF reserve soldiers and how it should be a goal for the Jewish People to look for a higher consciousness in life by practicing schmita and visiting Jerusalem three times yearly.  They end the segment by presenting an interview with Moshe Feiglin following his  good showing during Likud primaries this week and also discussing the results of the Likud primaries.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

When Professor Andre Geim, Langworthy Professor and director of the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Manchester, UK, and winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, first appeared on the Goldstein on Gelt show last year, he spoke about graphene, a very versatile material that he developed and for which he won the Nobel Prize. But what has happened since then? Find out why there appears to be a gap between academia and industry by listening to this week's episode of the Goldstein on Gelt show.

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Yishai shifts gears slightly and discusses the ever-continuing civil war in Syria and how the Syrian and Iranian regimes could be influencing Hamas to continue to attack Israel in order to allow atrocities in Syria to continue.  Yishai begins by presenting an audio piece from PBS, which discusses the terrible situation in Syria.  At 20:30, Yishai presents another piece from PBS about the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy in the United States and how many Jews that were living on New York’s Rockaway Peninsula should consider moving to Israel rather than rebuilding.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai presents an interview about the situation in Israel he gave with Rabbi Mottle Wolfe on his Inward Bound Show shortly before going live with the Yishai Fleisher Show on November 20.  Yishai and Rabbi Wolfe have an inspiring and insightful conversation that should not be missed, despite the effort of Hamas terrorists, who interrupted the broadcast due to a rocket attack.  At 18:29, Yishai changes gears and presents an interview with alternative peace activist Yehuda HaKohen.  Together they further discuss the situation between Israel and Hamas, including HaKohen’s view of the situation and potential solutions for it.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

When Bibi Netanyahu addressed the U.N. and challenged the world to take a tough stance on Iran, his call to draw a red line met with comments on his artistic ability and mixed reviews on his political insights.

One can argue that the Europeans take the threat of Iran seriously. The European Union imposed its toughest sanctions on Iran to date with the hope that the economic effects of the sanctions will force the country’s Islamic government to give up its nuclear ambitions. However, without the backing of a threat of military action, the EU’s sanctions may not have much deterrence value against Iran.

America’s stance on Iran isn’t clearly drawn either. I recently spoke with Professor Alan Dershowitz, attorney and political commentator on the subject of Iran and its relationship with the West. Professor Dershowitz believes that, “President Obama means it when he says that he will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, but he’s being undercut terribly by J. Street, which claims to be a pro-Israel organization.”

Furthermore, Professor Dershowitz does not think that sanctions, such as those adopted by Europe, are necessarily effective: “I think sanctions alone will never work, but sanctions combined with a credible military threat could work, but it has to be a credible military threat.”

However, this is not so simple either. In the interview, Professor Dershowitz adds, “The United States doesn’t want Israel to unilaterally attack Iran. It’s concerned about what the implications would be both for Israel and for the international community. I think it’s very clear the United States government doesn’t want Israel to attack Iran. Israel doesn’t want to attack Iran except as an absolute last resort. … I think Iran will stop its development of nuclear weapons only if it believes it will be attacked by the United States.”

So what’s the answer? How will the Iranian threat go away? Watch this video of my interview with Professor Alan Dershowitz to find out more.

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Yishai presents an interview with Gilead Mooseek, a resident of Kiryat Malachi.  Mooseek, who had to evacuate his home in Kiryat Malachi, discusses firsthand what it is like to be forced from your home and also what it is like to work in an environment where many co-workers are Arabs.  At 13:00 Yishai presents an interview that he gave earlier this week to Nachum Segal on his show JM in the AM.  Yisahi talks with Segal about Iron Dome, the call up of IDF reserve soldiers, and whether a peace deal between Israel and Hamas would even work.  Don’t miss this segment!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Making money on the internet is not just a science fiction fantasy. On the second part of this week's Goldstein on Gelt show, Ryan McKenzie, director of Infobarrel.com, returns to give more interesting tips on how to make money by crowd sourcing and using your creative talents. So is writing articles on the internet for you? Find out by listening to part 2 of this week's Goldstein on Gelt show.

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War in the Middle East has been front and Yishai and Malkah begin by discussing Operation Pillar of Cloud, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has been continuing for almost a week. Yishai and Malkah talk about how Hamas has both a media and military agenda such as how images from completely different and unrelated events have been used to attempt to coerce the world into making the world feel sorry for their cause. They move on at 16:00 to talk specifically about rockets striking Israeli civilians and end the segment by Yishai giving a strategic analysis of the current situation.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai presents audio from the BBC about the coming together of the ultra-orthodox and secular worlds.  This piece presents an overall very unbiased view of the situation and is a very interesting listen.  Don’t miss it!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Did you know that you still have the right to vote, even if you live overseas? If you weren't aware of this fact and you missed the recent presidential elections, don't worry! Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, president and cofounder of the Overseas Vote Foundation, explains why voting is still important, even if you live abroad, and how you are able to do it. So get prepared for the next elections and listen to this great interview on the Goldstein on Gelt show!

Keynes and Hayek were two of the most influential economists of modern times. But how did their economic philosophies and views affect the world today? Nicholas Wapshott, who wrote Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics and is the former New York bureau chief ofThe Times, editor of theSaturday Times of London,  founding editor of The Times Magazine, and political editor of The Observer, tells Doug about the differences in both economic systems and how the economies of the West have been shaped by them. Also enjoy listening to all of your favorite people on Goldstein on Gelt.

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Yishai presents a bit of comic relief by presenting audio from this year’s Albert E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, which was held in October 2012.  The first speaker is Massachusetts Governor and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is followed by President Barack Obama.  This audio segment shows a light-hearted side to both Governor Romney and President Obama that isn’t normally seen.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai is joined by Mordecai Taub, an advisor for the Likud party and formerly involved with the Republican National Committee. Together, they talk about rocket attacks on southern Israel and the thought of a potential ground incursion by the Israel Defense Forces being used as a political movement by top Israeli leadership. They move on to talk about upcoming Israeli elections and how for the first time, Israelis are generally unsure of what party they will vote for in the elections. They end the segment by talking about the unsettling situation in Syria and how the Israeli government is working to ensure they aren’t drawn into the civil war that is raging there and also by discussing up and coming candidates to Israeli politics.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

The subject that brought this year’s Nobel Prize for Economics to winners Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley is pairwise matching. But what is pairwise matching, and how can it be applied to everyday life choices? Doug Goldstein interviews Nobel Laureate Professor Robert Aumann, winner of the prize in 2005, who explains what pairwise matching is and how it can be applied to life decisions, such as who to marry and which medical school to attend.

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Yishai and Malkah kick off this week’s show by talking about recent attacks by terrorists on southern Israel and move on to read recently sent e-mails from listeners. They move on to talk about raising children in today’s world and how important it is to raise them with solid and good influence. At around 16:40, they talk about the recent rains that Israel is experiencing and how rain in the Land of Israel is truly a gift. Yishai and Malkah end the segment by further discussing attacks on Southern Israel and how Israel is always a leader when it comes to providing help for other nations in the world, including following Hurricane Sandy in the United States.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai broadcasts from the offices of Nefesh B’Nefesh to talk about the visit of representatives from South Korea in order to gain knowledge regarding absorbing and matriculating large amounts of immigrants. Thousands of North Korean refugees have snuck across the border into South Korea and in order to assist, the South Koreans have looked towards Israel for guidance.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Did you know that the most important part of a financial planning meeting occurs even before you set foot inside your financial adviser’s office?

Before you meet for the first time, you need to do your homework. Even the most professional adviser can’t help you if you haven’t done these three things:

1. Make a list of your current income and expenses, as well as future anticipated income and expenses. Then, create a careful inventory of your net assets. Include any property you own, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, savings and pension plans. To make this easier, use these trackers to organize your information.

2. Outline your goals.  Take a realistic look at what you want to accomplish beyond paying your monthly bills.  Do you have large college tuition expenses or wedding bills looming in the future?

When do you wish to retire? All of the various factors that may affect your future goals and desires should be written down before you meet with your financial planner so they can be included in the plan.

3. Buy a box of tissues either for the disappointing news that your aspirations are beyond your means or for the tears of joy when you find that your dreams are within your reach. While meeting with a financial planner can help create order an increased chances of reaching your goals, it shouldn’t bring any surprises.

The more complete your list of net assets, the more thoughtful your goals, and the more realistic your expectations are, the greater the chances of your reaching them… and the better you’ll sleep.

If you’re like me, even the most comfortable eye shades won’t help you fall asleep unless your finances are in order. A financial planner can’t make miracles or predict the future. However, if the clients supply accurate information and realistic goals, together they can create a financial plan to maximize chances of reaching your life goals.

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Yishai is joined by Tamir Druz, the CEO of Israel CNG to discuss massive natural gas fields recently discovered in Israel. They talk about the discovery of the fields along with the potential uses for clean natural gas including its use in cars and buses throughout Israel.  Don’t miss this segment!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

How do you make the important decisions of your life, such as what to study or where to invest your money? Is there a mathematical strategy to thinking clearly? On this week’s Goldstein on Gelt show, Professor Michael Starbird, professor of mathematics and author of “The Five Elements of Effective Thinking,” talks about how we make decisions and how to think clearly.

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Yishai is joined by Lt. Col. Yedidya Atlas to share wisdom gathered from fighting for the Land of Israel for 40 years.  Yedidya also discusses studying at Merkaz HaRav under Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook and the roots of Arutz Sheva, the radio station where Yishai was formerly the Programming Director.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai and Malkah kick off this week’s show by discussing the American elections and how it could affect Israel. They move on to talk about the stabbing of a young man in their Jerusalem neighborhood of Maale Hazeitim and how the stabbing affects the Fleisher’s day-to-day life in the neighborhood. They end the segment talking about the current situation for Jews in Hevron and an upcoming trip to the city.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Anyone who remembers life in Israel in the 1980s will cringe at the sound of the word “inflation.” Remember the soaring prices and the dramatic falls in the value of inflation? But what is inflation, and how does it affect the average investor? Listen to Doug Goldstein’s interview with Zane Brown, partner and fixed income strategist at Lord Abbett to find out what it all means.

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Yishai is joined by Alan & Leora Katz at Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem. Together, they discuss their recent marriage along with their Aliyah to the Land of Israel three days after their wedding. Alan and Leora Katz also discuss their backgrounds along with reasons for moving to Israel from the United States. At 23:30, Yishai presents a short piece from Rabbi Lazar Brody about Aliyah to the Land of Israel where he discusses his love for the land.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

When saving for retirement, you may feel secure because you’re putting aside earnings into a pension plan. However, what you may not realize is that some of that money is going to be spent even before it reaches your bank account.

There are 3 ways in which your pension can disappear:

1. Taxes. Having a work-related pension is important because no matter how many years you worked, government social security programs won’t meet all of your post-retirement needs. As helpful as your pension is, be aware that some type of pension plans are taxed as ordinary income when you start taking withdrawals.

2. Debt.  If you still have debts (mortgage, credit cards, or other loans) when you retire, they will need to be paid before your discretionary expenses.  If you are having a hard time making ends meet before you retire, imagine how much more difficult it will be post-retirement on a smaller paycheck.

3.  Charity.  Retirement shouldn’t spell an end to your charitable donations.  If you are careful to give 10, 15, or 20 percent of your income to charity during the years before your retirement, why should you stop post-retirement? To paraphrase the beggar from Fiddler on the Roof, “Just because you’ve retired, I have to suffer?” Depending on your pension and other income-producing investments, you may not be able to make as generous donations as you once did, but certainly charity shouldn’t stop when you retire.

Remember that numbers can be deceiving – after taxes, paying off debt, and giving charity, the amount of your pension may not match the amount deposited in your bank account.  While this sounds drastic, adequate planning can help make up the shortfall.

So before your retirement income is spent before you actually retire review the figures so that you can be prepared. To make this easier, use these easy-to-use calculators to work out how much you are spending on existing loans, mortgages, and more.

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Bethlehem is a central city for Christians and to discuss the current situation in the city, Yishai is joined by friend and activist Brian Schrauger.  Together, they discuss discrimination faced by Christians, especially Christian Arabs, by the Palestinian Authority and how day-to-day life can become difficult within Bethlehem due to their beliefs.  The situation is certainly eye opening and be sure to listen here to get the inside scoop!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai is joined by Mordechai Taub, a political analyst who formerly worked for the Republican National Committee and now works for Israel’s Likud party, to discuss the recent agreement between Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu parties to combine their representation in the Israeli government.  They discuss the specifics of this agreement along with how it will both help and potentially hurt the Israeli system.  Don’t miss this segment!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai and Malkah discuss Hurricane Sandy, which is currently pummeling the eastern United States, and how the “holiday season” in the United States should be looked at in Israel to celebrate Jewish holidays. At 9:30, Yishai moves on to wish a happy Eid al-Adha to his Muslim friends and neighbors and also how the Muslim narrative varies from the Jewish one and how both Jews and Muslims need to realize the similarities we have rather than the differences.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai presents a recent broadcast from the BBC about how the United States fits into the Middle East and also how the upcoming American elections can affect Middle Eastern policy, especially in regards to Israel.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai is joined by soldier, artist, father, and activist Marc Prowisor.  Prowisor, who is also the director of security projects the One Israel Fund, talks with Yishai about a party held by Arabs, to celebrate deceased leader Yasser Arafat held near the Mount of Olives studio.  They also discuss what is going on among Arabs inside of Israel.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

The last time you were at the circus did you gasp as the trapeze artist swung through the air?

Even though his antics might be scary, there’s a strong safety net catch him in the event of a fall. Hopefully, the trapeze artist won’t ever need to use it. But it is always there – just in case.

Even the world’s best acrobats have safety nets to catch them if the unfortunate occurs. So what does that say for the rest of us, who aren’t the world’s best?

Even if you’re not a trapeze artist, you need a safety net. As long as you have dependents, you need a safety net to save you from fiscal free fall.

Sometimes, the “fall” can be the result of poor financial planning and decision-making, but often it’s due to circumstances that are beyond your control.

For this reason, it’s important to make sure you have a safety net in place. In terms of personal finance, this is a two-pronged approach: making sure that you have adequate insurance and having an emergency savings account.

If you have young dependents, insurance is absolutely vital. What would happen if your family’s breadwinner(s) died or was seriously injured? While insurance won’t solve every problem, it definitely helps alleviate some fiscal concerns.

And in a situation that is far less drastic, but still costly, emergency savings can make all the difference between being unable to put food on the table or repairing the car.

Review your insurance portfolio to make sure that your family is covered in the event of a possible disaster, and evaluate your bank accounts to ensure that you have an emergency savings plan in order to catch you in case you fall. And like the trapeze artist, let’s hope that you never actually need to use it.

Here is part II of Douglas Goldstein's radio program - see below.

Synopsis of Parts I and II:

Romney may say the right things, but will he really be able to affect change? And Obama says… and does… the wrong things, and he has no reason to change. Democrats complain that Romney has no sympathy for the unemployment problem.

Of course this is ironic since he has been hunting for a new job for the past year. In the recent debate, he stressed how he would work to improve the economy to help the middle class. He wants to cut out deductions, lower taxes, and simplify the tax code. Great idea, but that’s not how Washington politics work. With so many special interests, will he really be able to make the required changes? It doesn’t look good.

On the other hand, Obama wants to spend his way out of the problem. He gets the money from borrowing the same way overspending American citizens fund their personal largess. Instead of paying back debt that he racked up, Obama pays the minimum monthly balance. It’s like if you pay $50 on your $5,000 credit card debt. Based on the logic of Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, the President feels he can double the amount of debt since he’d only have to make $100 monthly payments (or, in the case of the United States debt, make that an increase from $30 billion per month in interest payments to $60 billion!). This system of borrowing money will probably continue to work until at least the  election date, and maybe for a few more years. But at some point, that debt must be paid off.

On this week’s Goldstein on Gelt radio show, I asked former Chief Economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Harvard professor Ken Rogoff about the American Debt Crisis. He gave a great explanation.

Here's part two of the show (below). Click here for part one.

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Yishai is joined by Jeremy Man Saltan, Knesset insider, to discuss the current situation within Israeli politics, including an inside perspective on upcoming Israeli elections. Don’t miss this segment!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai and Malkah kick of this week’s show by talking about a recent decision by the European Union to criticize the construction of new housing units in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem.  They move on to talk about the Fleisher’s ninth anniversary of their Aliyah to the Land of Israel and end the segment by presenting a song by Mordechai Ben David and talking about recent events in the news, including Yishai talking about his experiences during his IDF reserve duty.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai, who is currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces, presents a piece from Stanford University’s Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Podcast discussing charisma and how one can build their charisma and how the information presented here can be used to reach out and touch others.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

A fake gold bullion bar makes a fine gag gift, but think twice before making it part of your investment portfolio.

What would happen if the gold bars you bought from a reputable dealer were “salted” with tungsten?

Word has been spreading that some gold experts have cracked open the gold bars that they bought only to discover tungsten (a metal worth about one-fifth of the value of gold) inside. Since tungsten has a similar density to gold, it’s easy to confuse people, amateurs and experts alike. With bars of gold that weigh ten ounces or more, using regular x-rays to determine the chemical composition of the metal doesn’t work well since the x-rays don’t penetrate deep enough.

Some alarmists have referred to the recent findings as evidence of a possible market-shattering conspiracy. What if there are hundreds or thousands of counterfeit bars of gold sitting in the vaults of companies and governments? If you can’t trust that the gold you buy is genuine, would you really buy it? Regardless of the veracity of the possibility that gold supplies are tainted, if people simply think that they are, the price of the commodity could start tumbling.

An additional way that falsified gold bars can affect the price of gold is that it also increases the cost of ownership of gold, as there may be increased costs involved in higher level testing for purity.

Regardless of how you purchase your gold, beware of the possibility that the whole gold marketplace might be affected by some bad eggs… just a reminder that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket, no matter how shiny it is.

Buying novelty fake gold coins or a 24K gold dipped real rose is fine if that is your aim, but before you buy gold for an investment, you might want to read my previous post on buying gold.

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Yishai presents a fascinating audio piece from the BBC about the issue of the legality of circumcision in Germany.  Be sure to tune in to stay informed!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Romney may say the right things, but will he really be able to affect change? And Obama says… and does… the wrong things, and he has no reason to change. Democrats complain that Romney has no sympathy for the unemployment problem.

Of course this is ironic since he has been hunting for a new job for the past year. In the recent debate, he stressed how he would work to improve the economy to help the middle class. He wants to cut out deductions, lower taxes, and simplify the tax code. Great idea, but that’s not how Washington politics work. With so many special interests, will he really be able to make the required changes? It doesn’t look good.

On the other hand, Obama wants to spend his way out of the problem. He gets the money from borrowing the same way overspending American citizens fund their personal largess. Instead of paying back debt that he racked up, Obama pays the minimum monthly balance. It’s like if you pay $50 on your $5,000 credit card debt. Based on the logic of Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, the President feels he can double the amount of debt since he’d only have to make $100 monthly payments (or, in the case of the United States debt, make that an increase from $30 billion per month in interest payments to $60 billion!). This system of borrowing money will probably continue to work until at least the  election date, and maybe for a few more years. But at some point, that debt must be paid off.

On this week’s Goldstein on Gelt radio show, I asked former Chief Economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Harvard professor Ken Rogoff about the American Debt Crisis. He gave a great explanation.

Here's part one of the show (below). Part two will be posted next week.

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Yishai is off to reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces and presents audio clips compiled from media outlets including news and perspective regarding the revolution and potential international naval response in Syria, the alliance between Christians and Shia Muslims throughout the Middle East, and ends the segment with a discussion about land conflict between China and Japan.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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The Yishai Fleisher Show returns after a short holiday vacation with Yishai and Malkah discussing the importance of the recently ended holidays on the Jewish life cycle and the difference between observing the holidays in communities around the world and in Israel. They move on to talk about news items that happened in Israel in the past weeks and end by discussing Don’t miss this segment!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Comedian Billy Connolly once said, “Marriage is a wonderful invention; then again, so is a bicycle repair kit.” However, what Mr. Connolly probably was not aware of when he said this was that marriage can also prolong your life more than a bicycle repair kit would.

Once retired, married couples tend to live longer than single people do, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. But they don’t just live longer. They also accumulate more wealth during their working years. Of course, every retired person’s situation is different. Some have managed to accrue enough savings and successful investments in their working years to have a comfortable life, while for others, when their income drops post-retirement they have very few resources.

Some people can retire well even though they have minimal savings. This is because they may have assets, such as a house and pension benefits, that allow them to live comfortably.

What was interesting in the National Bureau of Economic Research’s study was that it showed that single people accrued far fewer assets than married people, even though they had fewer people to support during their lifetime. Interestingly, 57% of single-person households were left with no housing wealth or just $10,000 in savings when they passed away. While the surviving spouses of married folks were often hit hard financially when they were widowed, they still did better in terms of asset accumulation than their single peers.

The bottom line is that in financial terms, marriage may be justified. For example, although there are usually more dependents in a marriage situation, such as children and/or a stay-at-home spouse, couples are more likely to put down roots and buy a house, which can significantly boost their net assets, post-mortgage payments. And when both partners in a marriage have worked, then the differences in asset accumulation are even more obvious.

While comedians often like to make fun of marriage and family life, there is nothing funny about its potential to make you richer, or your retirement more comfortable. And if you and your spouse are so inclined to go bike riding, don’t forget to bring along your bicycle repair kit.  It, like marriage can make your future more secure.

Have you ever met the kind of guy that would sell his own grandmother down the river?

Since more and more elderly people are being swindled and financially abused every day, it’s crucial to learn how to protect your grandmother and other seniors you care about.

Why are the elderly so susceptible to financial abuse? After all, chances are that they worked for many long years and have achieved the wisdom of experience. While they were young and fit, they surely had the opportunities to protect themselves, so what makes them vulnerable now?

Three reasons the elderly get scammed

1. Generally, as individuals grow older they tend to become more isolated from others. Perhaps their spouse has passed away and their children don’t live close by. The loneliness and isolation that this creates can make a person more vulnerable and open to parting with money… if it leads to companionship. For example, if Grandma is suddenly bombarded with invitations to free lunches and seminars, she may at first go simply for the company rather than any real interest in the subject of the event. She may find herself “befriended” by the organizers and convinced to invest in a dubious scheme because her defenses are down now that these people have been so “nice” to her.

2. Modern technology. An elderly person who has little experience with computers and knows only how to send or reply to an email may easily fall prey to scams such as fake charitable appeals asking for a credit card number in order to make a donation, a bank password for depositing some unexpected funds that don’t really exist into his account, and so forth.

3. The worst threat of all: seemingly concerned relatives and caregivers who have their own hidden agenda. One of my clients recently told me that she had to fire her elderly father’s home healthcare worker because he had almost managed to get the old man, an Alzheimer’s sufferer, to write him into his will. The caregiver was caught just in time. And then there are the unscrupulous relatives who have been given power of attorney for a relative and they gradually whittle away all their resources until there is nothing left at all.

Sadly many of these offenses go unreported because the victims may be too embarrassed to admit that they made such a big mistake, or no one is monitoring the situation.

If you’re caring for an elderly parent or grandparent, keep an eye on what’s going on, both with their physical health and fiscal health. If you have power of attorney over their bank account, review it periodically and investigate suspicious activity. Find out what’s happening if unexpectedly large sums are disappearing. Observe all caregivers, and do strict background checks on any much younger new “loves” or prospective new spouses who suddenly appear.

Protect Grandma and other seniors in your life from becoming victims of fraud by educating yourself about how to be vigilant against scams and implementing  tips against elder fraud. After all, a broken hip may be easier to fix than a broken bank account.

Schools waste kids’ time by teaching them the wrong math.

Since half of Americans die with less than $10,000 in savings, it appears that maybe they’re not too good at handling money. The educational system seems to be failing in teaching practical financial skills to students. Kids aren't learning math and money skills that they can apply to everyday life.

Schools seem to favor theoretical math over basic “practical math.” If useful math and money skills were taught in middle school and high school, students would enter the real world equipped to earn and manage their own money. Instead, the education system focuses on esoteric topics that help make future mathematicians and scientists. But how many children grow up and use calculus on a regular basis, compared to those who must balance a checkbook?

Which helps you more in life: knowing how to solve a quadratic equation or understanding how actuaries calculate your pension payments?

My high school math classes included in-depth study of calculus, trigonometry, geometry, and such. As a 20-year veteran on Wall Street, I will admit that other than helping my kids with their homework, I haven’t used any of those disciplines in handling my clients’ money.

Those in favor of keeping the current math curriculum argue that learning complex mathematics helps develop the skills of critical thinking. I agree. But there are plenty of demanding math techniques that also have practical applications. Why not teach those first?

For example, teach the kids ratios, standard deviation, statistics and probability, sampling and estimation, correlation analysis and regression, technical and fundamental analysis of businesses. Wouldn’t studying these before studying the more obscure number topics also help develop the skills of “critical thinking?”

Math has practical applications

Imagine if children learned math that helped them when they went to work. Since about 100% of high-school graduates will eventually hold a job compared to the 1% or so who will use calculus in their careers, shouldn’t schools teach practical topics? Wouldn’t it be helpful to learn the math and concepts behind market forces of supply and demand, gross national product, interest rates, business cycles, inflation, cash flows, and, of course, investments?

As a financial adviser, I talk with thousands of people about their money and through my online school, I teach the basics of investing. It’s surprising to me when folks have credit card debt, yet cannot calculate the interest that they will owe on it. Or, I’ll talk to them about a price/earnings ratio, which is the first number that people look at when checking out a stock, but the clients don’t get the concept of how a ratio works and I have to explain it.

Shouldn’t the next generation of children enter the workforce knowing how to read their brokerage statements and understand them?

I am a big believer in math. I studied many complex topics in college, and I think others should, too. But first teach kids practical math in school, and then if they decide to study further, only then start with the abstruse topics.

As a financial planner, I often ask new clients why a particular investment is included in their portfolio. One answer that I find somewhat worrying is: “I don’t really know how to explain it, but I just had a gut feeling that this stock was going to be a winner!”

Often the stock in question is anything but a winner, but that isn’t the point. If you were to fit a new kitchen, would you simply walk into a builder’s showroom and say that you wanted the kitchen cabinets that are in the storefront window because you had a “gut feeling” about them as soon as you saw them, or would you first visit several showrooms, research the types of materials used and other factors that are important to your decision? Of course you wouldn’t order home renovations based on gut feelings, because thousands of dollars are at stake, as well as the fact that you will have to live with the results of your decision for a very long time.  Just like investing.

Yet very often, investors base their financial decisions on irrational reasoning.

The way that emotions affect investing has become a science and much research is conducted into various phenomena such as loss aversion, mental accounting, and herding. Emotions influence investors’ decisions in many more ways than you would expect. Sometimes fear drives an investor to sell a stock because a sudden dip in the market makes him afraid he’ll lose everything. And, at the other end of the spectrum, is the person who did well with a certain small investment, and figures that because he did well once, he’s bound to do even better if he does it again. He continues to invest in something that might not be appropriate at increased levels, just because he wants to duplicate his previous “win.”

On my radio show, Goldstein on Gelt, I interviewed several researchers who study behavioral investing, including Professor Terrance Odean of Berkeley University, Nobel Prize Winner Professor Daniel Kahneman, and best-selling author Professor Dan Ariely (click on their names to watch videos of these interviews). Watch the videos and let me know if the research on behavioral finance jives with your investment decisions.

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Yishai is joined by Rabbi Yohanan Danziger.  Together, they discuss some recent visitors to Danziger’s Shabbat table and move on to talk about the need to constantly think positive.  They end the segment by discussing the weakening grip of America on the Jewish People and the increasing desire to return to the Land of Israel.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

As a financial adviser I notice that certain money mistakes are very commonplace. Are you making these kinds of errors that can destroy a fortune?

Instead of learning from your own mistakes, try learning from other people’s mistakes. Below is a list of some of the most common mistakes in financial planning:

1. Putting off buying life or health insurance. Even if you are still young and you belong to the mindset of “it will never happen to me,” the truth is that you never know. Accidents, terror attacks, and sudden illnesses are all in the hands of the One Above, and although no one should ever go through life in a constant state of fear and worry, it’s important to be prepared for any eventuality. Think of your insurance policy as “risk management.”

2. Passing up tax breaks. When considering whether to buy or sell an investment, don’t only look at the figures. Find out what this means in terms of tax. How will the dividends/interest be taxed? Does the investment have any kind of tax deferral or tax-free status? While tax status shouldn’t be your sole concern in purchasing investments, make sure to keep tax liabilities in mind.

3. Buying or holding stocks for the wrong reasons. Are you holding onto a stock out of sentimental reasons, because you inherited it from a loved one? Are you thinking of buying a stock simply because you enjoy the company’s products? Don’t base your decisions on emotions. Do your homework, and only buy the stocks that make the most financial sense for you. If you are not sure how to work this out, consult with a financial planner.

4. Not taking enough risk. Some people are very cautious by nature, and they would prefer to invest their money with the least risk of loss. Although this might sound prudent because it minimizes the chance of loss, the other side of the equation means that your gains will be limited. Of course, the appropriate level of risk for you depends very much on your personal situation, so speak to your financial adviser about what is appropriate for you.

Keeping these four points in mind should help you avoid some of the most common money mistakes. Don’t make these mistakes, and if you do, visit a qualified Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) for help in fixing them.

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Yishai Yishai presents a podcast from C-Span’s Q&A, featuring filmmaker Ami Horowitz, creator of the ‘docutainment’ film U.N. Me.  Discussed are the origins of Horowitz’s film along with how he was given unprecedented access to the United Nations and how this access allows an unseen view of what happens within the UN.  Don’t miss this segment!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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The Director of the international department of the Temple Institute, Rabbi Chaim Richman, joins Yishai. Together, they discuss the Iranian nuclear threat and how the Jewish People need to remain strong in the face of danger. Rabbi Richman speaks about the video that his organization recently produced and they end the segment by talking about reaching the tipping point within Israeli society and how it will shape the future.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai is joined by alternative peace activist Baruch Widen, to talk about the nature of Rosh Hashana and how the true meaning of the holiday is not being observed.  They move on to talk about the need for both love and respect in all types of relationships and how it does not exist in the relationship between the west and a majority of the nations in the Middle East and end the segment by discussing the return of the Jewish Warrior to the world and get a quick check in from Malkah about Rosh Hashana preparations in the Fleisher home.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai is joined by Dr. Efraim Zuroff, who is the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center office in Jerusalem and one of the last Nazi hunters, those dedicated to bringing Holocaust perpetrators to justice. Yishai and Zuroff talk about Zuroff’s background and how he found himself becoming involved in bringing aging Nazi war criminals to justice. They also talk about Zuroff’s book “Operation Last Chance” and also the ongoing investigation that uses the same name, specifically talking about Nazi war criminals that have been captured and tried in recent years.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai is joined by alternative peace activist Baruch Widen. Together, they discuss the declining relationship between the United States and Israel and how the relationship between both countries is being strained due to Iranian aggression. They move on to talk about how Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s upcoming visit to the United States in order to attend United Nations General Assembly should be cancelled and how there is an inequity between the handling of Israel and Iran within the UN. The segment ends with a discussion about how there are many within the United States, including Jews, that are actively working to prevent Jews from moving to the Land of Israel.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

One of the main headlines in world financial news this August has been the fate of ZeekRewards.com, an online company that offered investors the chance to get rich quick. Interestingly enough, I heard about ZeekRewards before this company hit the headlines, when one of its salespeople contacted me and asked me to represent them. The very pushy salesman nagged me to set up a meeting, but the more he pushed me, the more uneasy I felt. So I decided to follow my mother’s adage of, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” and I didn’t meet him.

Reading the headlines, I’m very relieved with my decision. ZeekRewards offered promises of returns such as 1.5% of the investment at the end of each day and shares of 50% of the daily profits. Wouldn’t everyone want that kind of deal? However, this August, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an emergency action in a North Carolina federal court because this investment project was yet another Ponzi scheme.

The owners of ZeekRewards must have realized that many of these potential investors were going to ask questions. So, in a bid to protect themselves they added a clause for new users stating that they were not purchasing stock or any kind of “investment or equity,” and they even labeled the whole thing as an “e-commerce subscription.” The SEC saw through their ruse and said that this was not the case and in fact the company was offering its subscribers false securities. However, the average investor did not have the knowledge to understand what they were getting into, and the abovementioned clause probably sounded fair enough.

As people kept subscribing and playing the company’s game, investing and reinvesting, the company’s cash outflows began to exceed its total revenue, leading to a collapse and many unhappy subscribers who were left with nothing.

This time, there are more than 1 million victims of the scheme, making this the largest such bankruptcy case, with around $600 million at stake.

Interestingly, many observant Jews, both in Israel and America, have fallen prey to this scheme. It’s not the first time that Jews have been hit hard by Ponzi schemes (think Madoff).

This raises the question of why Ponzi schemes such as ZeekRewards are tempting to the religious Jewish community. One possible answer is that many religious Jews have large families and in this economic climate finances may be tight. Offer a person who is trying to find legitimate ways to support his family a way to make some extra money, and it’s tempting to find out more.

Sadly, as stated above, ZeekRewards is not a one-off story. Apart from desperation to make more money, another possible reason people fall for these schemes is that the scammers may have gotten smarter.

However, there are three basic measures that you could follow to protect yourself from falling victim in a financial scheme:

1. Remember my mother’s rule: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” ZeekRewards offered high gains for pressing a few buttons and looking at some ads. This is the first sign of something suspicious. When something sounds too good to be true, ask yourself, “What’s the catch?”

2. Do your research. One potential investor who decided against investing with ZeekRewards said that when he heard about it, he did his homework. He discovered that the company’s securities offerings were not registered with the SEC as required by U.S. federal law. Recognized authorities monitor investments for a reason; their absence speaks volumes.

3. Don’t feel pressured. If the company/salesman/friend keeps nagging you, saying that the investment opportunity will be gone if you don’t “buy now,” it may be wise to let the opportunity pass.

While there are no guarantees in the world of finance, taking these three steps will provide a basic level of protection against becoming a victim of the next Ponzi scheme that rears its ugly head.

If you are interested in hearing more about the biggest investment fraud in history, watch this TV interview that I did on the subject of Bernie Madoff. Although this was four years ago, the points remain the same. If anything, there are more frauds out there and we need to be more careful than ever. So be wary and tread with caution.

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Alternative dialogist Baruch Widen joins Yishai. Together, they present audio clips recently broadcast on Al Jezeera that discuss how the two-state solution hasn’t worked and how Arab movements that span the political and social spectrum are looking for alternatives. Don’t miss this fascinating segment!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Rabbi Mike Feuer, the Educational director at Yeshivat Sulam Yaakov, joins Yishai. Together, they discuss the need for strength for all of the Nation of Israel and specific ways that it can be found.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Wealth transfer is a hot topic in financial planning. Thinking about how to pass funds from one generation to the next can be emotionally difficult. Perhaps the older generation doesn’t approve of the way the younger spends the money, or the younger generation isn’t involved in the family business. Furthermore, tax and legal issues can complicate matters.

While estate and inheritance planning can be complex, other wealth can be transferred more easily: the wealth of knowledge. My grandmother successfully passed a financial education to my mother, who transferred it to me, as I am a proud third-generation licensed broker. My maternal grandmother Miriam Rosofsky struggled against social norms to enter the work world. But eventually she had the distinction of being one of the first women to hold a U.S. Securities license. She started as a secretary in a brokerage firm, but then began picking up her own book of clients. My mother Rhoda Goldstein was an associate vice-president in Dean Witter. Dinner-time conversation around my childhood table alternated between medical issues (my father was a surgeon) and economic discussions. I saw how both my parents helped people gain and maintain their physical and financial health. It was therefore only natural for me to begin my financial career partnering with my mother on Wall Street.

After I made aliya, I founded Profile Investment Services, Ltd. with the aim of helping people living in Israel create financial plans and maintain U.S. brokerage accounts. I try to follow in my mother and grandmother’s footsteps in transferring the wealth of financial knowledge to my own children. Even though none have announced their desire to be financial planners (but my wife recently became a licensed U.S. broker), they do check stock prices regularly.

We frequently discuss fiscal responsibility, budgeting, and other economic topics at our dinner table.  Some of the kids are reading books on behavioral finance, and others are reading books about loyalty, fidelity, and trust. My mother, keen to pick up on children’s natural curiosity about money and the way the “grown up” world works, recently came out with a book geared for young adults about how the stock and bond markets work, and how an entrepreneur can raise the funds necessary to fulfill his dream. If you’re interested in sharing this information with your children and transferring the wealth of financial knowledge to them, visit my website to get her new book Stocks, Bonds, and Bicycles. Let me know if you recognize any of the characters in the story.

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Yishai is joined by Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a scholar of Arabic literature and academic expert on the Israeli Arab population.  Together, they discuss Israel’s relationship with it’s neighbors, especially Turkey, Egypt, and Iran and how the rapidly changing situations in each of these countries affects Israel.  Keep informed and listen to this segment!

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai and Malkah kick off by discussing Yishai’s visit to the annual Yisrael Beiteinu meeting in Jerusalem and how he decided to take public transportation in order to avoid the ever-rising gas prices in Israel.  Yishai talks about his day spent in Jerusalem and how he had gained insight by going to an event for Chai Elul, the 18^th day of the month of Elul, hosted at a known Shul in Jerusaelm.  They move on and end the segment by talking about how Jewish exile is rapidly ending with the last remaining Synagogue in Egypt canceling High Holiday services for “security reasons”.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Alternative peace activist Baruch Widen joins Yishai. For the segment, they discuss how Widen’s son recently made Aliyah to Israel and Widen describes the shopping experience to help his son prepare for school.  They move on to talk about the relationship between Israel and Turkey and end the segment by discussing the need for the Israeli government needs to act to end the threat from Iran.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

What did you do when you built your portfolio? Did you invest the money and then simply walk away? Did you then expect to take another look in ten years’ time and find that you had miraculously become rich?

The financial world, like many other things in life, is always subject to change. Markets go up, and markets go down. What if there is a war in your part of the world, or a huge banking crisis? The financial markets are affected by so many outside factors, a lot of which are not necessarily as dramatic as the above two examples but still have their ramifications upon investments. For this reason, it is always a good idea to take a periodic check of your portfolio to see if the level of risk is still appropriate and if you need to readjust your investments in favor of something that would be better for your present circumstances.

This fiscal check could be compared with the annual reevaluation that Jews are supposed to make at this time of the year. The months of Elul and Tishrei are a time to examine your deeds. You look at what you have done over the past year and where you are going. Are the decisions that you made in the past for yourself and your family still right for you, given the circumstances in your lives that may have changed during the year? How have various challenges that you may have undergone affected the way that you live your life? When you look at the future, what do you see? Although you cannot predict what will happen, there are certain things that you may need to keep in mind and prepare for. Are you prepared for these events?

Spiritual accounting is similar to the financial accounting. In order to be an effective investor, it’s a good idea to sit down once a year with your financial adviser and ask:

- What has happened over the past year that might have changed the balance in your portfolio? - Which of your investments have become more or less risky as a result of market performance? (Learn more about assessing whether high or low risk is good for you.)

- What are your goals for this year, and do you have the means to accomplish them?

- Do you need to change anything in order to improve your financial situation? And if so, exactly what?

- What are the pros and cons of any possible financial move that you may be considering, in terms of hidden costs and taxes, as well as potential profits?

With best wishes in starting the New Year with renewed spiritual strength…and a reevaluated, stronger portfolio.

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Yishai discusses a budding Yiddish interest in the Land of Israel and how a recent Shabbat spent with some of his Haredi friends was eye opening.  To discuss this more, Yishai is joined by his friend Chaim Mayer Wertheimer and together they discuss Wertheimer’s website and the growing link between Ultra-orthodox Jews and the Land of Israel.

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Yishai and Malkah further discussing the Iranian nuclear threat and how it has caused Iran’s neighbors and the rest of the Arab world to stock up on American-made arms and weapon systems and how because of it, Israel needs have less reliance on support provided by the United States. They move on to talk about how the upcoming American presidential election and how neither candidate is necessarily more pro-Israel than the other and ways that listeners can support Israel other than through elections. They end the segment by discussing how the ban of ritual circumcision in Germany has affected the German Jewish and Muslim communities and how circumcisions have continued in secret.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Very often, life doesn’t turn out the way you expect it. For example, over the years you may have dreamed of having a certain income or level of savings when you retire. For various reasons, however, that has not happened. Maybe certain things occurred within your personal life that meant that you had to spend the savings that you worked so hard to accrue, such as a serious illness, major, unexpected repairs to your home, or more. Perhaps you started investing too late, or you put your money into investments that did not bring you the returns that you anticipated. Or maybe you were just one of those people who spent too much every month.

Whatever the reason, if you reach retirement age and you see that you are not going to have enough money for your anticipated needs, what should you do?

First of all, don’t stress about it. Although this is not the ideal situation, you won’t necessarily end up on the street. There are some steps that you can take to make your life a little easier if your nest egg isn’t as large as you would like it to be:

Keep working part time. Consider partial retirement instead of full retirement. Though older people do not always find it easy to get new employment, there are still places where the experience of a senior citizen is appreciated. Any income you receive means that you will be withdrawing less from your savings account.

Turn down the volume. As you are going to face a cut in your income, learn to cut down your expectations. A trimmed budget doesn’t necessarily mean you need to cut out recreation, just find cheaper or free means of entertainment. Visit the library, not a bookstore. Visiting free public museums, going for walks along the sea front, and offering to take your grandchildren for one afternoon may not be as glamorous as a luxury cruise, but they cost a lot less and believe it or not, they can be just as rewarding.

Pay attention to your spending habits. While some people watch their budgets for most of their lives, there are plenty who don’t. If you fall into that second category, it’s time to change. Start taking note of your budget now, even before you retire, and you will be better able to cope with living in reduced circumstances when the time comes.

Keep up with your investments. If you do have a few investments, don’t panic when you retire and start selling them all. Consult with a financial adviser on how to make the best of the investments that you have and what you can do to make the best of your retirement years under the circumstances.

There aren’t any magical solutions to retiring comfortably without adequate savings, but there are certain strategies you can use to avoid and fix personal finance mistakes.

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Yishai is joined by Kevin Bermeister, a technology innovator and one of the founders of Skype.  Together, they talk about the urban design of Jerusalem and how city planners have had to find a balance between the ancient and modern cities, including how Bermeister’s organization, Jerusalem 5800, has created the first consolidated master plan for the city.  Specifics including how members of the project, including those that represent government and non-government entities, envision Jerusalem in the future are discussed.  The segment ends with how rapidly technology is changing and how this will affect the world in the future.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yochanan Danziger joins Yishai.  Together, they talk about how Israel’s national airline, El Al sold thousands of tickets at a huge discount due to a computer error and how this error actually increased interest in Israel among Jews that would not normally be interested.  Yishai talks about the need to find a way to reduce ticket prices for Jews wanting to visit Israel.  They move on to talk to the large Shabbat dinners that are hosted by Danziger in the old city of Jerusalem and how guests that would not normally become emotional are emotional when talking about the Land of Israel.  The segment ends with talking about how difficult it is for many to return to their countries of origin after realizing the importance of Israel in their lives.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai presents a speech given by David Sacks of the Happy Minyan which discusses preparations for the Month of Elul.  Don’t miss this segment!

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When your child was a newborn baby, you probably thought that this moment would take forever to arrive. Think of all of the effort that you have put into your child over the years, with so many hopes and prayers that they would grow up to find a suitable spouse and one day you would proudly stand under the chuppah and watch the happy couple tie the knot.

Unfortunately, despite all of the hopes and dreams, many parents either don’t or can’t put so much effort into saving the money that goes into paying for the wedding. There could be many reasons for this. Maybe the parents didn’t think too much about it, and because the thought of a wedding always seemed so far away, they woke up too late and did not invest their money sensibly and in time. On the other hand, the parents may have tried their best to put money aside to pay for their children’s weddings, but try though they did, there was simply not enough. Perhaps their income was just not high enough, or maybe some other events happened within the family, like a sudden illness, that consumed all of their savings unexpectedly before they could be channeled into a wedding.

Unfortunately, another huge factor in this equation is peer pressure. Very often, families feel that they have to keep up with the Joneses in a big way. It becomes very important to them, for example, to hold the wedding in a certain, fancy hall. Even though the other hall down the road is large enough for their needs, “no one” gets married there because it is not quite as upmarket as the most popular hall in town, and therefore the parents feel the need to find the extra few thousand dollars that it costs to use the fancier place. And then of course, if you are using the fancy hall, then you can only take a fancy caterer, and so on and so forth.

Finding those extra dollars is not always so easy. And this is where the debt trap comes into play. As a financial adviser, I have often met families who are drowning in debt. To keep up appearances, they decide to borrow money from a loan fund. But when the time comes to pay off the debt, their financial situation has not suddenly improved. In fact, the additional expenses of the wedding have gobbled up most of their resources, and there is nothing left to pay back. So guess what happens? They go to another loan fund to obtain money to pay off the first debt … and so on and so forth until this unfortunate family falls even more deeply into a financial black hole.

Let’s go back to the beginning of this story. If the family had been content to make a more modest wedding, with fewer trimmings, they would not only have saved several thousand dollars, but they would have also saved themselves a lot of heartache.

Marriage is not meant to be a financial free for all, and using a topflight caterer will not guarantee anyone’s future happiness.

Before you decide to drown yourself in debts from banks, gemachim, and elsewhere, take a few steps back. Think about how much you really can afford to pay before taking on the bills, and where you are going to find the money. And once you know how much money you really have at your fingertips, decide which kind of wedding you are prepared to make.

For more information on how to plan a wedding wisely, read this article at the Profile Perspectives site.

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Russell Robinson, the Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish National Fund, joins Yishai. Together they discuss the difference between Jews living in Israel and those living in the United States and how important it is to make Israel appealing for all Jews.  They move to talk about how JNF helps give North American Jews a voice in Israel and Robinson outlines the various projects that the JNF are involved in including projects in the Negev and also in the Galilee.  They end the segment by discussing those that perform fire watches on the JNF forests planted around Israel and how their involvement in this program is creates proud, Zionist, Jews. Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

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Yishai and Malkah talk about recent statements made by the leader of HIzbullah, Hassan Nasrallah and how his psychotic rants against Israel and threat of rocket attacks have caused the Israeli government to issue additional gas masks to the Israeli public. Malkah talks about her experience waiting in line to get gas masks for her family and the thought that the Syrian regime could possibly release biological weapons on his own people might make the masks useful. Yishai moves on to and ends with talking about how there have been stories of Jews are cancelling their plans to make Aliyah to Israel due to threats of war from Iran and how in truth, the numbers that have cancelled are very small.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

While generally peer pressure is viewed as a negative trait, emulating successful people may help increase your own chances of success. Indeed, if you want to build your wealth, look at successful businesspeople and copy their secrets to success. Try following these golden rules in order to increase your net worth:

1. Have patience. Build your wealth carefully and patiently. As any successful businessman will tell you, wealth doesn’t grow overnight. Each decision was weighed carefully and thoughtfully, without making any rash or impulsive mistakes.

2. Create a financial plan. Successful businesspeople don't just make random decisions. They have a specific business plan, and they employ others (money managers) to help them. You can do the same thing, albeit on a smaller scale.

3. Invest carefully. Successful companies reinvest their profits in their own development. Keep building your business rather than taking out dividends and resting on your laurels.

4. Consistently monitor. Don't just open a portfolio and walk away. Keep an eye on your levels of risk and asset allocation, consulting with your financial advisor on a regular basis. Markets and personal circumstances never remain static. So monitor the changes and make sure that your investments keep apace with your changing world.

If you would like some more great ideas on how to build your wealth, consider emulating successful businessmen. I heard a number of great ideas when I interviewed Verne Harnish who wrote a book called Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, which is endorsed by over 100 CEOs. Listen to that interview and please let me know what you think (doug@profile-financial.com).

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Dan Halloran, who is a candidate for the US congress from the state of New York joins Yishai in our Mount of Olives studio.   Together, they discuss Halloran’s background and his reasons for visiting in Israel and move on to talk about how the Islamic world wants to discredit and destroy a Jewish tie to the Land of Israel.  Halloran gives his opinion about whether Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish prisoner who has been held by the United States for espionage for over 25 years, should be released and ends his talk with Yishai by giving his principal ideas behind his platform.  Yishai ends the segment by talking about the relationship that should exist between the United States and Israel.

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Yishai and Malkah kick off by talking about Malkah’s attendance at the arrival of a Nefesh B’ Nefesh flight of new immigrants to Israel and her connection with celebrity kosher chef Jamie Geller, who made Aliyah to Israel along with her family on this flight.  They move on to talk about a Brit Milah that the Flieshers attended and also by talking how recent discoveries of a bathroom from an ancient synagogue in Germany and how it’s compared to a picture of a young Israeli draped with a flag.  Yishai ends by talking about how this is the last show before the month of Elul and how everyone needs to prepare for Elul by being closer to G-d.

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How do you visualize your retirement years? Most people hope that they will finally be able to do the things that they never had time to do during their working years. Very frequently, folks anticipate retirement will be a worry-free time, full of enjoyment, and ample time to spend with family and friends.

As a financial adviser, I am often saddened to see retirees facing a different picture. I'm talking about people who are getting older but who can't stop working because they don't have enough savings to support themselves. The shortfall may come from a lack of savings, or may come from a lack of foresight in using their once ample funds. For instance, there are generous parents who give their children so much financial support that there is nothing left for them when they need it.

Very often, these are people who have worked hard and earned well. They have worked diligently to support their families, but unfortunately they have also made some disastrous mistakes. The three worst pre-retirement planning mistakes are:

1. Relying on government pensions. Even though you have paid your taxes faithfully over the years, the amount you receive back from the government should be considered a (small) supplement to your retirement income, not the only source. Social security was originally intended to provide financial support for only a few years, but with increased life expectancies, it’s becoming harder for Uncle Sam to continue making payments to all retirees. There’s much talk about pension size decreasing… so to be financially secure during retirement, it’s wise to make sure that you will have another source of income, such as a pension, IRA, 401(k), and other investments.

2. Thinking that you will never retire. You may really enjoy your work, and you are strong and healthy, so you are absolutely sure that you will always be working forever. Sadly, you don't have a crystal ball and you don't know what will happen. Counting on working until the day before your funeral isn’t a good financial plan.

3. Believing that you are too young to start thinking about retirement. You are never too young to think about retirement. In fact the younger you start, the better. Think of all the money you can save in a pension plan over 40 years as opposed to 20. The beauty of compound interest means that the earlier you begin saving, the harder your money can work for you.

To learn more about planning for old age, read why living too long may be a financial disaster.

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Yishai presents a series of interviews that are related to finding a job in Israel.  To begin, Yishai speaks to Kim Ephrat, the associate director of employment for Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization dedicated to Aliyah in North America.  Yishai and Ephrat talk about finding employment in Israel and how networking, learning Hebrew, and being flexible are key to success in finding a job in Israel.  Following his interview with Ephrat, Yishai moves on to talk to being able to search for employment in Israel by searching janglo.net, which is a leading English-language website for all things that can be found in Israel.  To discuss the job section, Zev Stub, the founder of janglo.net, joins Yishai.  They discuss the wide variety of jobs found on the site and how employment for almost everybody can be found on janglo.net.

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Yishai and Malkah present this segment from Ben Gurion International Airport as they wait for the arrival of a 747 jet full of new immigrants from North America. To continue the segment, Yishai and Malkah interview many Olim that are both fresh off of the plane and have been in Israel for some time. The segment ends with a speech presented to the new Olim by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Don’t miss this moving segment!

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When you are in your early twenties, it seems as if you will always be young. At this point in your life, you may have completed your university studies and now you are out there in the work world, or perhaps you are still studying towards a further qualification. You may be newly married at this point, or still waiting to find the Right Spouse before tying the knot. Whatever you are doing, retirement may be the furthest thought on your mind.

However, retirement will not stay on the horizon forever. Before you know it, the years pass, and you will hopefully find yourself established in life with a career and family. You have a definite professional path, and you are working hard to put food on the table and make sure that you, your spouse, and children have everything you need. The only studies that you are thinking about now are your children’s tuition fees. And this is how it goes, as the years pass. The nature of your needs and goals will change through life – until the time comes to retire and enjoy the fruits of your labors.

For this reason, it is important not to let the years run by without planning for the future. No matter how old you are, whether you are 20 or 55, you need to make sure that you have a pension plan and to put some of your money aside into savings and investments. Since there is no guarantee that your company’s pension plan or the government’s pension plan will be enough to cover your retirement needs, it’s important to have a personal savings plan which could make up the (potentially large) shortfall. No one wants to end up dependent on the goodwill of their children, who may well be supporting their own families by this time.

Of course, every family has its own situation, levels of risk, and specific needs and goals, which is why you need to find the pension plan that is the best for you, whether it’s an IRA, 401(K), or any of the other options that exist out there. There are many different factors to consider. For further ideas on how to plan for retirement, read http://profileperspectives.com/dont-let-retirement-creep-up-on-you/.

Planning for retirement now, while you are young, can make all the difference to your future.

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Yishai presents a recent class given by Rabbi Zev Reichman about the sanctity and power of physicality in Judaism and how its center is in Israel. Be sure to catch all of this riveting speech!

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Rabbi Yochanan Danziger joins Yishai.  Rabbi Danziger, psychologist and philanthropist, is famous for the large gatherings he and his wife host every Shabbat in Jerusalem. Danziger talks about his recent visit to the United States and gives fresh perspective on how Jewish life looks to him in the diaspora from the unusual vantage point of jetting around on a motorboat. Yishai and Danziger reflect on the essential role of the Land of Israel in Jewish Life and end the segment with a debate on Tu B’Av (the 15th day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar): is it about marriage or love?

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Do you ever read those heartrending flyers that appear in your mailbox, telling you terrible stories of how a family was left totally financially bereft when one parent died or became permanently disabled? Each story is a tragedy in itself. A parent died in dreadful circumstances, maybe from an accident or due to a serious illness, and now the remaining spouse and children are left broke, with no means of financial support. It must be truly very painful for each family to have to rely on the mercy of the public to be able to survive.

Of course, the stories are not only about the financial disaster that is left behind. The strains of getting over such a bereavement, caring for a large family all alone, and maybe dealing with the trauma of a sudden, unexpected death or injury all have their effects on a family. Many of these effects are unavoidable and inevitable, but there are some parts of these stories that could be alleviated to a certain extent.

No one ever knows what is going to happen in life. When you get married, for example, you hope that the marriage will last, that both of you will always be healthy and able to support your children for as long as necessary, and that no one will ever be the victim of a serious accident or disability. However talented we may be, prophecy is not a common talent, and the future remains an open book. While you can’t plan the future, there are certain measures that you can take that will alleviate the effects of a possible disaster.

I can never stress more the importance of taking out life insurance, especially if you are supporting a spouse and children. Although it may not cover all of your bills, the payout from a life insurance policy can at least provide some kind of income until the family can work through this difficult time and start to rebuild.

Obviously, a tragedy will always remain a tragedy, and the grief and pain that a family suffers can never be diminished. However, if there is food on the table and a roof over everyone’s heads, it can make the healing process easier.

Call your financial planner or insurance agent today, to find out the best kind of life insurance that you can take out for your family. It is better to spend the money on a plan and never have to use it, than to be left in the aftermath of a tragedy to survive on the goodwill of public charity.

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Yishai and Malkah kick off by talking about their life in Jerusalem and a recent trip around town and to Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem and the amount of Ultra-Orthodox Jews present at the Six Day War battle site. They move on to talk about attacks on Israel from terrorists in the Sinai and finish the segment by talking about the Mars Rover Curiosity and its landing and deployment on the surface of Mars and how even it relates to Judaism.

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Unsurprisingly, as a financial adviser, one of the questions that I hear the most frequently with regard to mutual funds is, “Which one?” This is because there are so many mutual funds, from foreign funds to socially responsible funds. Therefore, any investor who wants to buy a mutual fund may be paralyzed by the variety of choices available.

Let’s take a look at some of them:

1. Growth funds – These tend to focus on stocks that may not pay a regular dividend but have the potential to generate large capital gains.

2. Income funds – As their name may suggest, these funds hold stocks that pay out a regular dividend.

3. Index funds – These follow the progress of a particular market index, such as Dow Jones or the S&P 500, and are invested in all or some of the companies that are on that particular index.

4. Sector funds – These specialize in a certain segment of an industry, and therefore these funds are invested in companies belonging to that specific sector.

So which of these is the best for you? Obviously, that is a very individual question as every investor is different. Before you make your decision, you need to take a look at your current circumstances as well as your life goals. What is your level of risk tolerance? How close are you to retirement? How much money do you have to invest? Also, be wary if you own more than one mutual fund that the contents of your mutual funds don’t overlap. If they do, owning the same stock(s) in several funds may negate your aim of diversification.

The best funds for you are the ones that are the most appropriate to your personal needs and conditions. To learn more about how to effectively use mutual funds in your portfolio, go to www.learnaboutinvestments.com.

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Yishai is joined by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz to talk about his newly published Koren Steinsaltz Talmud, which is the most widely-accessible to date by being made available on a wide variety of mediums. Steinsaltz talks about his background and inspiration behind this work, which has been several years in the making. Do not miss this interview with an iconic scholar!

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Rabbi Chaim Richman, the director of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, joins Yishai. Together, they discuss the creation of a video produced by the Temple Institute entitled “The Children Are Ready”. The video, which depicts the creation of a sandcastle model of the Third Temple by children, has become extremely popular on Youtube. They move on to talk about responses to the video from radical extremists and how there is no militant undertone given or intended in the video and end the segment by talking about how many Jews are scared of the Temple Mount and how the thought of a Third Temple is unsettling to many Jews.

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Yishai and Malkah kick off by talking about their family’s experience during Tisha B’Av in Jerusalem along with how Malkah’s cooking is a key to awakening Hungarian heritage in many dinner guests at the Fleisher house.  At 5:30, Yishai moves on to talk about American presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s visit to Israel and presents a portion of his speech in Jerusalem.  Yishai ends the segment by talking about the idea of establishing a formal way for Jews to visit the Land of Israel three times a year and how it cements Jewish life in Israel.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook

Are you looking for a good way to invest your money? If so, you might consider mutual funds. A mutual fund is essentially a collection of stocks and/or bonds that is shared by investors. Everyone puts his money into a “basket,” and each person owns a proportional percentage of the overall mutual fund. Each mutual fund has managers that are in charge of the buy-and-sell decisions, so all the investor needs to do is put his money in and wait/hope to earn some profits.

Four reasons investors choose mutual funds are:

-It takes the work off your shoulders — why spend time going through rows of figures and researching the performance of your securities when there are professional money managers who can do this for you? In fact, not only do they save you the work, but they can possibly do it better.

-"Don't put all your eggs in one basket," or in financial terms, diversification. Diversification is a technique where you spread your investments among various companies, industries, and geographic locations, thus minimizing your risk if something fails. For example, if you were to put all of your savings into Brazilian coffee and a huge flood wiped out the entire coffee bean crop across South America, you would be left with nothing. But if you diversify, you are less likely to lose everything. Putting your money into mutual funds, which by their very nature are diverse (though some do stick to certain sectors or countries), saves you the headache of searching for the best way to spread your investments.

-Mutual funds are not only good for the big guns. If you only have a little bit of money you can still invest. Unlike some professional money managers who may have minimum account size requirements to manage your money, mutual funds offer professional management without investment minimums (other than buying one share). In this way, mutual funds may be an affordable way to get professional guidance and diversification.

-What if you suddenly need your money? Mutual funds are fairly liquid. You can redeem your shares at the current NAV —along with any fees and charges assessed on redemption — at any time.

If you think investing in mutual funds may be for you, learn more at www.LearnAboutInvestments.com, and then schedule a meeting with your financial adviser.

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Dr. Tawfik Hamid, an alternative Arab thinker and former Egyptian extremist, joins Yishai.  Retired US Army Lt. Gen. and former Pentagon inspector general Mick Kicklighter, described Hamid to Wired Magazine’s Danger Room, by saying “Hamid is a great scholar whose knowledge of terrorism is extremely valuable.”  And that “There is no doubt about his first-hand experience and depth of knowledge. He is truly a treasure.”  Do not miss this segment as it truly provides an insider’s insight into the mindset of those that want Israel destroyed.

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Celebrity chef Jamie Geller joins Yishai and Malkah. Geller, who was dubbed the “Kosher Rachel Ray” by the Miami Herald, is the founder of Joy of Kosher, one of the largest kosher food information sources worldwide.  They talk about Geller’s experience in becoming religious and also how important her impending Aliyah is both personally and for her family.  The segment wraps up with a discussion of the Geller family’s upcoming Aliyah.

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Christiane Amanpour (CNN and ABC) vists Yishai Fleisher  on the Mount of Olives.  Listen in as Yishai and Christiane discuss Jewish life in eastern Jerusalem, why many Jews feel it is important to return to Israel, and more.  Then Yishai talks with Nachum Segal on JM in the AM (New Jersey)  kosher hot dogs in major league ballparks versus struggling to support Israel.

When I recently interviewed Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth, on the Goldstein on Gelt show, we spoke about the techniques for running a business that can be applied to managing your own money. Interestingly enough, Gerber uses the famous McDonald’s fast food chain as a great example of optimum business management.

Gerber told me that, "Given the failure rate of most small businesses, he [Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's] must have realized a crucial fact: for McDonald's to be a predictable success, the business would have to work, because the franchisee, if left to his own devices, most assuredly wouldn't!...Once he understood this, Ray Kroc's problem became his opportunity... Forced to create a business that worked in order to sell it, he also created a business that would work once it was sold, no matter who bought it... a foolproof, predictable business.... A systems-dependent business, not a people-dependent business."

I believe that investors need to see their own portfolios as a franchise opportunity. It’s not that they will actually franchise their stocks and bonds. Rather, they must have a portfolio that is scalable, based on a dynamic asset allocation that can be quickly adjusted if their goals change or if the market situation varies. All of their investment decisions must be based on a set of rules that can be easily documented and explained to someone else. Financial plans and investment policy statements correspond to the manual that an entrepreneur would write about how to run every aspect of his business.

Additionally, you should follow the principle of, “Work on your investments, not in them.” Just as The E-Myth advocates business owners working on their businesses, not in them, investors should concentrate their efforts on the larger picture of the goal of the investment portfolio, and not become bogged down in the daily details of researching stocks and funds and making decisions on trading. Study after study has shown that when people manage their own accounts, they do more damage than good. So why do individual investors continue to be their own money managers? It’s because they think that they must oversee and trade their investments themselves. That mistake alone has cost people billions of dollars.

In summary, managing your own portfolio is like managing a small business. What other comparisons can you think of? Send me an email about other types of comparisons you have seen between running a business and running your portfolio.

David Schottenstein is a member of the famous Ohio Schottenstein Talmud family but he has earned his own fame as a brilliant dynamic businessman who for three years running was one of “America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs” on the 30 Under 30 list of Inc. Magazine.  During his current visit to Israel he sat down with Yishai to discuss how he built Astor and Black and to explore his outlook on being connected to Israel and his changing perspective as he experiences life in Judea, Samaria, and the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

 Just because someone else owned them, it doesn’t mean they’re good investments.

What did you do when you received a purple vase decorated with green stripes and gold roses as an inheritance from your late Aunt Minnie? Did you give it a place of honor in your breakfront, hide it away in the attic, or did you follow your spouse’s instructions and “sell that hideous thing because at least you might get some money for it”? Chances are that you wouldn’t dare sell the vase, simply because of its sentimental value.

When it comes to a financial inheritance, such as stocks or bonds, you would be surprised how many people keep holding onto these positions for sentimental reasons.

If you do inherit some money in the form of stocks or bonds, you have two possible options:

1. You could sell the positions and start from scratch.

2. You could keep them and try to maintain the portfolio.

Under the right conditions, either decision could work for you.

For example, if the original owner didn’t have a solid reason for holding them, but did so anyway because at the end of his life he really wasn’t thinking so clearly about money anymore, why do you need to keep them? If these investments aren’t doing so well, do you really need them?  Even if these investments were suitable and worked well for the person who left them to you, consider if they are appropriate for you and fit in with your overall financial plan. You may well be better off selling them and investing the money into something else that would be a lot more suitable for your personal situation and aspirations. And last, but by no means least, an investment is not an old vase. Whereas the worst thing that could happen to you by holding onto Aunt Minnie’s vase is that you have another dust collector in your living room, holding onto an investment for sentimental reasons can have a negative impact on your portfolio.

On the other hand, this doesn’t mean that you should automatically sell the investment just because you have inherited it. Take a look at it (preferably with the help of your financial adviser) and ask yourself whether you would have invested in this particular position if you didn’t inherit it. If the answer is positive, then keep it.

Sometimes, a person receives an inheritance and doesn’t know what to do, simply because they have never invested before.  The world of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds may not be familiar territory for everyone. If this is the case for you, consider taking the free course on “3 Tips to Dealing with Inheritances.”  If you anticipate receiving, or giving, an inheritance one day, this is knowledge you must have.

Nowhere else can you get this kind of in-depth radio analysis of the political situation in Israel - in English!  Understand the crazy Israeli government coalition forming and dissolving in the blink of an eye.  How Prime Minister Netanyahu manuevers among the political land mines. Hear the ins and outs of the IDF Draft legislation addressing the issue of participation of the Israeli haredi population in the IDF that caused the coalition kerfuffle. Yishai and experienced Knesset watcher Jeremy Man Saltan (author of the only Knesset Insider Daily Blog Update in English) dig into these major Israeli political currents and provide the listeners with unique insights.

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Yishai and Malkah kick off this week’s show by paying tribute to a family friend that recently passed away and how important she was to both the Fleishers and the Jewish People, especially as a representative of the Golan Heights.  At 15:50, they shift gears and talk about a woman that Malkah has met in her classes to become a birth coach and they talk about how secular Israelis need to see an influx of religious Jews into the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces.

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Friend and colleague Baruch Widen joins Yishai. They talk about Yishai’s recent experience with being assaulted by Arab youths that threw rocks towards Yishai and his family.  Because of the assault, Yishai missed a conference that took place in Hebron where alternatives to the two-state solution were discussed.  Widen talks about the environment of the conference and some of the ideas that were discussed.  They move on to talk about how Israeli sovereignty needs to be extended across Judea and Samaria and at 20:30 Yishai presents a piece of the speech that American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave in Jerusalem this week.  They wrap up by providing commentary to Clinton’s time in Israel.

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In my last blog, “Three Reasons to Buy Dividend-Paying Stocks,” I described the benefits of buying dividend-paying stocks and why people may think that they are a worthwhile investment. But before you rush to buy dividend-paying stocks for your portfolio, take a few minutes to read about some of the pitfalls involved with this kind of stock.

1. Sometimes, a company will either reduce or suspend its dividend payments. If this happens, it may be prudent to reconsider staying invested in the company, as most companies will only cut dividends as a final resort. The cut/elimination of dividends may be a wake-up call to a company’s demise. Shareholders won’t generally rejoice at getting smaller than anticipated payments, so why would the company risk their negative reactions, unless it is in some sort of trouble?

2. Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” and this definitely applies to dividend-paying stocks. With dividend-paying stocks, you are going to be hit for taxes twice. First of all, the IRS levies the usual corporation taxes from the company itself on its profits, before shareholders are even compensated. Then, the company transfers whatever profits are left to the shareholders (i.e., you), and you have to pay another tax on the dividends that you receive! (If you have dual citizenship or are living in Israel, the Israeli government may also levy a tax on dividends. Check with your accountant to confirm that you won’t be double-taxed.)

3. Although it’s great that companies may reward their shareholders by paying dividends to them, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Consider the possibility that the reason why the company is paying its investors (as opposed to reinvesting in its own growth and development), is because it can’t find any better investment options right now. Indeed, many large companies tend to pay out dividends when their growth has started to slow. Perhaps this is not what you want, as you would prefer to invest your money into something that is a little more dynamic.

Are you still thinking about buying dividend-paying stocks? If so, I suggest that you reread my last blog, “Three Reasons to Buying Dividend-Paying Stocks,” and then read this article again as well. If you have the full picture, it will be easier for you to see if dividend-paying stocks are really for you.

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Yishai talks further about the integration of Ultra-Orthodox Jews into the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces. To elaborate, Meir Eisenman, who as one who comes from a Haredi background gives a unique perspective to the situation, joins Yishai. They talk about all aspects of integrating Ultra-Orthodox Jews into the IDF and how it affects both sides of Israeli society. Don’t miss this segment!

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Yishai and Malkah kick off by talking about a special guest that they received in their home in order to interview Yishai and the range of discussion that followed between the guest and Yishai. They move on to the expiration of the Tal Law and how it has contributed to the collapse of the coalition in the Israeli government. At 12:30, Yishai and Malkah begin to discuss the recent trip to Israel by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her views on the American policy in the Middle East along with discussing how Jonathan Pollard will not be released. They end the segment talking about how everything is looking ahead in Israel and how listeners can get involved!

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Have you thought about investing in dividend-paying stocks? As the name suggests, these are stocks that pay out a certain percentage of the company’s earnings as a dividend periodically (usually quarterly) to the investor. Recently, dividend-paying stocks have received a good press in publications such as The Wall Street Journal. Have you considered why dividend-paying stocks might be good for you?

Here are three possible reasons for thinking about dividend paying stocks:

1. You can reinvest the dividend payments in the same stock. Chances are you originally bought the stock because you believed in the fundamental strength and stability of the company. As long as you continue to believe in the strength of the particular firm, if you reinvest your dividend income in the company and continue to buy more shares of the same stock, you will increase your position in a company that you believe is strong. If you choose carefully, your investments might turn out like those of Grace Groner, a secretary at Abbott Labs. Her $180 investment in 1935 eventually grew to $7 million (which eventually went to fund a foundation to benefit students of Lake Forest College.)

2. Dividend-paying stocks have the potential to maintain a certain amount of stability when the market gets rough. Stocks that pay dividends are generally considered safer in a down market because they still keep a certain level of value and generate income in the form of a regularly paying dividend. Even if the stock value drops, unless the board of directors vote to eliminate the dividend, you can still anticipate receiving a periodic check.

3. The need to pay out dividends to shareholders can keep a company’s management in check. If the board of directors knows shareholders expect a dividend on a regular basis, they may be more likely to avoid embarking on risky projects that could end up fundamentally destabilizing the company. Since stockholders will only continue holding onto their shares if they believe in the fundamental stability of the company, both the board of directors and shareholders have a common interest in furthering the company’s profits.

If reading the above has convinced you that to buy dividend-paying stocks for your portfolio, wait a minute before you call me (or your broker). First, read my next post, to learn about potential problems with dividend-paying stocks. As always, don’t invest in anything until you get proper advice from a licensed financial advisor.

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Yishai talks about the absolute need for more land to be claimed by Jews in Israel and to further discuss this matter; he is joined by Aryeh King, the founder and director of the Israel Land Fund. They start off by talking about the situation behind Yishai’s recent assault while driving in Eastern Jerusalem and the background behind it and move on to talk about how with additional Jews moving to the Mount of Olives is creating a whole new feeling in the eastern part of the city. They wrap up by King giving his opinion on the findings of the Levy Report and how it will help extend the borders of the City of Jerusalem.

Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher Yishai on Facebook