With stock indices continuing to set new highs, does this mean negative returns for stocks are on the horizon? If prices increasing over time was a troubling development, what would be the point of investing at all? You would think investors would realize there is no potential for future gain, and not invest. So why do […]
As investors ring in the new year, some may see the occasional headline about the “January Indicator,” “January Barometer,” or “January Effect.” This theory suggests that the price movement of the S&P 500 during the month of January may signal whether that index will rise or fall during the remainder of the year. So every […]
Someone once called me a unicorn (their term, not mine), since they found it hard to find someone like me. This was because I don’t have sales licenses for product sales. I’m fee-only and a fiduciary as a result. Actually, only a small, but growing, percentage of financial advisers are fee-ONLY. You can vet me […]
People focus on returns, average returns, good or bad returns. Rather, progress isn’t made over short terms, but over the longer term. So how often have the markets been positive? The below article explains how to better view markets and how you should participate in them for healthier and wealthier outcomes. It illustrates how infrequent […]
How many times can you use a source of money in your retirement plan? Turns out, just once, unless you know ahead of time WHEN something is going to happen, or if something was NOT going to happen. Since we don’t know either, we need to plan on what resources may solve which issues we […]
Markets are always uncertain. Actually, as the article below states, markets aren’t uncertain … uncertainty is a human condition that is emotional and the markets simply reflect this emotion among the many other emotions market participants feel. I like to schedule posts in advance. You’ll notice the article below is dated May … when the […]
What is Robo-Advising? From Widipedia: “Legally, the term “financial advisor” applies to any entity giving advice about securities. But most robo-advisors limit themselves to providing portfolio management (i.e. allocating investments among asset classes) without addressing issues such as estate and retirement planning and cash-flow management, which are also the domain of financial planning.” So, […]
The terms risk and security are heard a lot when discussing money. Most people think of risk as the value of money going up or down, and usually down coming to mind when associated with risk. Security may be thought of as the ability to spend on things important to you, what those important things […]
The imbedded report is a handy reference for those who want to calculate their own investment metrics such as yield and annual return. However, I must state … with important caveats. I would caution that calculating your own returns is fraught with miscalculations and misinterpretations! For example this article “Understanding the Link Between Volatility and Compound Returns” […]
There is a cost to indexing that most investors are unaware of. It is called “reconstitution.” What is reconstitution and how may the costs involved be solved? What is an index? An index tracks changes in the markets – think of it kind of like a weather barometer. The first article below discusses how the reconstitution effect […]
