Custody is why platforms can die without your money dying with them — and why scams self-custody. What custodians do, the graveyard's proof, and the two questions that expose fakes.
Fiduciary duty vs suitability vs Reg BI, dual registrants, fee-only vs fee-based — and the two written questions that settle what any adviser actually owes you.
PFOF explained: the routing mechanics, the genuine controversy, the Robinhood disclosure settlement, and what a retail investor can actually do about it.
AUM is the number the industry lives on. The regulatory vs marketing versions, why fees make it oxygen, and the three skeptic's moves: average account, AUM-per-employee, and the trend.
Expense ratios are deducted invisibly from returns and compound for decades — the difference between 0.05% and 1% can be six figures. What the number means and the two-minute audit.
The ERISA notice your pension sends every year discloses its solvency. The three numbers that matter — funding percentage, allocation, PBGC backstop — and what to do with a bad one.
Amana Funds explained: how Saturna Capital's halal screening works, the honest performance trade-offs, and why these funds survived decades while values-based robo-advisors died.
The legal shape of misappropriation in plain English: the three elements, real-world patterns, what doesn't qualify, and why custody rules exist to make it structurally hard.
Max-funded indexed universal life, explained without the sales pitch or the backlash: the structure, what the pitch omits, the index-fund comparison, and how to evaluate an illustration.
Factor investing explained without jargon: value, size, momentum, quality and low volatility — why robo-advisors loved it, the honest caveats, and whether you need it.