I know, you’d much rather read about a favorite recipe than see boring investment charts. Tracking my Facebook shares and newsletter clicks bear this theory out. But, every once in a while, to get to the dessert, you must eat your vegetables. Consider today’s blog a vegetable. I don’t remember where I got…
In previous blogs, I’ve lamented the fact that financial advisers loooove to use expressions with more syllables than strictly necessary. Look, I just did it in the previous sentence. Six words with more than 3 syllables. This is because we want to appear smarter than we are. Market Correlation One of those too-long expressions…
There is so much talk about the Fed raising interest rates. Expectations are that the Federal Reserve will raise the cost of borrowing between banks 2 times in 2019. Other than incoherent tweets originating from our nation’s capital, what are you supposed to make of this news? Let me break it down in simple language…
Do you have fears that keep you from moving forward with your life goals? I do! I have a fear of asking businesses for donations and sponsorships for fundraisers. This stresses me out since I find myself serving on many non-profit boards where that is the principal activity. What to do to get over…
Give yourself the gift of financial sanity going into the new year with these 3 easy financial tips: Stop watching any sort of financial TV. MSNBC, Bloomberg, CNBC – they are all designed to sow fear and uncertainty in you so that they may sell more advertising. Their very programming advocates short term outlooks,…
Often, when discussing bond investments, people bring the idea of using municipal bonds. If the investments in question are in a non-retirement fund, this can make sense. But, how do we evaluate it? Let’s take a look First, some quick background. Municipal bonds are loans from the public to municipalities such as cities, counties,…
Since the stock market volatility of October, my financial planner friends and I have been pretty crabby. “Well, of course,” you say, “down stock markets are terrible for investment advisors.” Nope, that’s not the problem at all. Getting mad at the stock market for going down is like being angry at a toddler whose…
In times of uncertainty (rising interest rates, tariff wars), investors understandably want predictability, even if it means sacrificing return. Cash (savings accounts, money markets) offer stability, but not much interest. For people who are working, I suggest you keep 3-6 months of expenses in cash for emergencies and invest the rest for longer term…
More and more employers are making the Roth option available in their 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans. What does this mean? Well, the default contribution to retirement plans has always been tax-deferred. Meaning, you are legally hiding income for the current year, enjoying paying no taxes on the dividends and capital gains on…
As I sit here and eat the Take 5 bars that I will not be giving to trick-or-treaters, it seemed appropriate to offer a quick market commentary about what has been scary and sweet so far in the 2018 investment world. Scary: International stocks, which have been hurt by the rising US dollar…
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