RISCARIO INSIDER

October 26, 2013

FIVE SWEET WAYS TO CUT BACK ON SUGAR

Sugar: Consumption At The Crossroads (cover)

Sugar used to be scarce but now we’re suffering from abundance. Here are alarming findings from the Credit Suisse Research Institute:

“… added sugar is in almost everything on the supermarket shelves.”

“Today, the world daily average consumption of added sugar per person is 17 teaspoons — up 45% compared with 30 years ago.”

“The US is rated #1 in the consumption of sugar and caloric sweeteners with an average of 40 teaspoons per person per day. It’s not surprising that the country has the world’s highest rate of adult obesity (34%). “
— Sugar: Sweet With A Bitter Aftertaste

This short video explores the effects of sugar around the world.

We pay for excessive sugar consumption with our own health and as a society.

The Manufacturers

The manufacturers are tough to blame. Information about sugar is easily available online. They don’t force us to buy (but entice us as much as possible). They don't tell us how much to consume (but their packaging influences us).

Depending on your age, you may recall that soft drinks in Canada came in 10 ounce tough-to-crush steel cans. After the switch to the 12 ounce aluminum cans used in the US, we didn’t throw out the extra two ounces. That would be wasteful. Instead, we quickly learned to consume more. Children did too.

Even Worse

While normal sugar may be bad, artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup look even worse.

Also manufacturers also play games with their labeling. To avoid showing sugar as the first or second item, the label, they may show different forms of sugar (e.g., brown sugar, molasses, concentrated fruit juice, dried cane sugar, hydrolysed starch, dextrose, maize syrup, honey). Sneaky, even for people who read the labels. We care about the amount of sugar, not the subdivisions designed to deceive.

Strategies

Here are five ways to reduce your consumption of sugar.

1. Eat Less

You can't take sugar out of your dessert but you can take a smaller portion (no seconds!) or eat less frequently. You can share too. Sometimes we’ll pour a can of pop into two small glasses.

2. Add Less

We're used to adding sugar to foods such as coffee and tea. We might add hot fudge to our ice cream or sugar to our cereal. We may have ice cream with our apple pie or apple pie with our ice cream. We can cut back and perhaps eliminate some of the extra sweetness.

3. Buy Less

Since you can't eat what you don't have, a simple solution is to avoid buying sugary processed food. If you wouldn't buy a product at normal price, should you buy because it's on sale and you're "saving" money?

4. Buy Quality

In the quest for profits, companies switch to ever-cheaper ingredients with names we can't easily pronounce. Products with better ingredients usually cost more. Buy them and you're paying a tax for quality. That's a financial incentive to buy less, eat less and savour each bite.
Depending on your skills, you could even occasionally make treats at home. You’ll know how much sugar you're using, which can be disturbing.

5. Exercise

When you exercise regularly, you want results. Eating better helps. That means less sugar and likely less cravings for the wrong things. Besides, you have less time to eat.

What About Oreos?

Sugar has been called “addictive and the most dangerous drug of the times”. Oreos are as addictive as cocaine for rats, according to a flawed study. Rather than argue over the headlines, let’s live better. Where there’s willpower, there’s a way.

What sugar do you consume daily? How can you cut back before your doctor tells you?

(new from TED-Ed)

Podcast 243

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes

PS Next week is Halloween …

October 19, 2013

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR ADVISOR IS INDEPENDENT

Dad, can I borrow the car?

Like teens, advisors want to look independent but may not be.

Dependent

Advisors who aren’t independent are called “captive” (Investopedia). They are dependent and forced to sell products from a specific catalogue or specific companies. They can't scan the market. Management influences what they sell through quotas and bonuses. Somehow, the captives convince themselves they have freedom of choice. They convince themselves that what they have is the best (or at least good enough). They then try to convince you.

You don't go to the Apple Store for unbiased advice about Apple or Android. At least you know that. With financial advice, the limitations aren't as obvious.

Captive advisors are like commissioned employees. They're stuck selling what they're told to sell, regardless of quality or value.

Spotting Captives

Dependent advisors don't have their own brands. Their business cards show the name of the company they represent. Dependent advisors rarely have their own websites. Instead, they may have a page on a corporate website that lists competitors (other advisors from the very same firm).

What about social networking? Since captive advisors are representatives of a brand, they may not be allowed to use social media. It’s as if the brand doesn’t trust the judgement of their own employees.

Captive advisors might be on LinkedIn but have an especially bland profile due to corporate standards. Following the rules is called “compliance”. They may belong to Groups, but do they participate? If you connect to a captive, don't be surprised if they block their connections from your view. Actually, that could easily be true for independent advisors too.

Write Wrong

An article from a captive advisor may have been ghostwritten by the corporate head office or approved there. You can often tell by the blandness and wishywashy-ness of the content. The writing rarely sounds like the advisor. There's rarely any personality or a controversial stance.
Pretend you wrote Speaking of Success with Blanchard, Canfield and Covey

Pretend you wrote Speaking of Success with Blanchard, Canfield and Covey

Do a web search for an article title and see what shows up. You might find the same article but with different author names. That even happens with books like Speaking Of Success written by Ken Blanchard, Jack Canfield, Stephen Covey and (fill in the blank) . Actually, independent advisors can play this game too.

Independent

Independent advisors can scan the marketplace. That choice might be an illusion. In practice, they often have preferred suppliers which get the bulk of their business.

An independent advisor is more likely to

show up in a web search
have a real website
be on Twitter (check their Klout score)

The products they sell might cost less or guarantee more.

Which Is Better?

A captive advisor can't offer you much choice. That may seem like an advantage because choice can paralyze. An independent advisor can scan the marketplace and filter the choices for you.

Mommy, where do independent advisors come from?

They often started as captives to get training. The top ones often leave after they’re trained and established. Why? Independents tend to get paid more. Also, independents tend to get better service because vendors are competing for their business.

If you're young, your needs tend to be simpler. The difference between captive and independent matters less. By the time you need choice, you've established a relationship with your advisor and your advisor has developed more sales skills. You're less likely to leave or realize what you are (not) getting. You risk becoming the captive, caged by a Goliath.

Podcast 242

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes

PS Just because an advisor is paid on commission doesn't make them independent.