Does it really matter if you cast your votes in shareholder elections? Probably not if you are a small investor. But if so few are participating, can we blame corporations for forgetting whom they serve?
Read More...Shareholder Meeting: Why Go?
My first experience with these shareholder meetings was a major turnoff. In March 2009, I purchased a limited number of shares of Genworth (GNW) stock for reasons I do not proudly share among value investors.
Read More...Gold, Silver and Resource Stocks
The optimum asset allocation to physical gold and silver is 0%. Instead, we recommend you use resource stocks as an inflation hedge.
Read More...Investing Ideas – Wealth Management Carnival #10
This edition of the Wealth Management Carnival we focus on investing. We have some helpful definitions of investment vehicles and instruments, advice on what to go for and what to avoid, and all kinds of opinions on that roller coaster ride: Financial Markets.
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Two Disclosed and One Hidden Cost of ETFs
Expense ratios and commission prices are easily determined on brokerage or fund websites. But the third expense, the bid/ask spread, is not readily disclosed and will require some additional digging to determine.
Read More...In Praise of Mid Cap Value
Mid-cap value should be part of any U.S. stock allocation which wants to remain invested in the markets, but is worried about potential corrections.
Read More...Three-Factor Model Goes 3D
To understand this newest dimension to DFA’s investment strategy, you need to begin with an understanding of the three-factor model described by Eugene Fama and Kenneth French.
Read More...AAII 2013
Follow-up information for 2013 AAII presentation “Dynamic Portfolio Construction in the Context of Comprehensive Wealth Management.”
Read More...Review: 2012 Market Commentary
2012 has come to a close, and 2013 is off to a good start. For those interested in reflecting on the past year, we’ve collected some 2012 year-end market commentary by Marotta Wealth Management Staff.
Read More...2012 Review: Economy & Markets
Despite a steady diet of bad news, most markets around the world climbed the proverbial “wall of worry” to log strong returns. Major market indices around the globe delivered double-digit total returns.
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Looking Ahead: Are Bonds the Next Big Bubble?
Long-term government bonds outperformed stocks over the past 20 years ending 2011, but the next 20 years may be a very different story.
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Investing for the New Year – Wealth Management Carnival #8
Wealth Management Carnival #8: This edition of the Wealth Management Carnival deals with investments, how-to tips, and some advice you may want to incorporate into your 2013 Resolutions.
Read More...Carnival of Passive Investing – #25 – Gingerbread House Edition
Passive investing is like a ginger bread house, a sweet and beautiful harmonious selection of treats which work well together to build your financial house.
Read More...Should I invest IRA Funds in Real Estate? ($ ?s)
Q: I am looking for a way to get into the distressed real estate market. What recommendations do you have about investing IRA or 401(k) funds in rental houses?
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Tax on Dividend-Paying Stocks Rising to 74%
With the enormous increase in the taxation of dividends, high net worth investors may be tempted to abandon dividend-paying stocks entirely. This is not necessary.
Read More...The Wisdom of Jack Bogle: Part 2
Faster is not always better. So says an energetic 83-year-old Jack Bogle, the Vanguard Group founder who has spent most of his career striving to protect the individual investor.
Read More...Jack Bogle: The Father of Passive Funds Gets Active
I found it very interesting that Bogle directs much of his criticism at the mutual fund industry and even Vanguard itself. Bogle argues that fund companies should be doing a better job challenging the excesses of executives and corporate managers.
Read More...Investing Edition–Wealth Management Carnival #6
This week’s carnival is concerned with investments, investing styles, and how to stay focused. There are just about as many investing philosophies as there are investors, so read a range of opinions and form your own.
Read More...Why invest in the emerging markets?
Four reasons not to abandon a brilliant allocation that includes emerging markets simply because of short term fluctuations.
Read More...Vote Marotta As the World’s Next Great Investing Columnist on WSJ’s MarketWatch.com
MarketWatch is seeking a top-notch writer who will bring a fresh perspective on money to the world’s investors. We believe that fresh perspective ought to include the idea of freedom investing.
Read More...How are foreign stocks doing compared to stocks in the United States? Fall 2012
Sometimes the medium term trend seems to weigh more heavily in our minds than the long or short term trends.
Read More...7 Interesting Investment Ideas –Wealth Management Carnival #1
In the Wealth Management Carnival, we share 7 Interesting Articles from other sources. From advice to diversify investments to index fund criteria to choosing a bank, this month we found seven articles that discussed various investing ideas.
Read More...How keeping your money “safe” might lose half of it in 16 years.
“Anyone who’s bought gas, paid a medical bill or sent a child off to college recently knows that the Consumer Price Index doesn’t tell the whole story of inflation.”
Read More...The False Promises of Annuities and Annuity Calculators
The entire selling point of the immediate fixed annuity is a lower return in exchange for a guarantee. But when analyzed, the purchase price is a loss from which you can never recover.
Read More...Valuable Property
“Real estate investment trusts should be much more than an optional selection in a balanced investment portfolio.”
Read More...Muni Forecast: Lots of Clouds
“A growing link between municipal bond and U.S. stock performance could be very bad if equities fail to rise robustly over the next few years.”
Read More...Investing In Gold
Direct ownership of gold has become more popular, despite some lingering fear that the government could again ban private gold ownership. With ongoing concerns about the global financial system and gold hitting a record high, many people are interested in this “safe haven.”
Read More...Why We Don’t Rebalance
“Perfectly rational individuals exhibit changing risk aversion that makes it hard for them to rebalance into high-return assets that have had steep price declines.”
Read More...Fund a Teenager’s Million-Dollar Retirement
We teach teenagers a lot more about sexuality than we do about money. This can confuse them about what they should be learning. Give this article to a teenager and encourage him or her to start a Roth IRA.
Read More...Four Reasons Convertible Bonds Are Flawed
Generally speaking, financial complexity is a curtain behind which the finance industry can extract its fee. When the curtain is pulled back, convertible bonds fail to add value for four specific reasons.
Read More...Hedge Funds Trail Vanguard Index Funds
In another edition of “you can make the numbers say whatever you want” two financial industry studies are contradicting each other.
Read More...Technology sector doing the best YTD, energy the worst.
Sector rotation would suggest that we are still at the beginning of a market recovery. This is probably the bottom of energy stocks.
Read More...Even with low interest rates you should have an allocation to bonds
“Investors may hold fixed income securities to reduce portfolio volatility, generate income, maintain liquidity, pursue higher returns, or meet a future funding obligation.”
Read More...Risk – Return Decisions
Portfolio construction begins with the most basic allocation between investments that offer a greater chance of appreciation (stocks) and those that provide portfolio stability (bonds). There is no such thing as a safe investment that pays market rates of return.
Read More...Emerging Market Bond Funds
Emerging market bonds are an attractive way to get a higher yield, but historically they have come with higher volatility and a high incidence of default. But that has been changing.
Read More...Radio: Ten Best ETFs of 2012
David John Marotta was interview on radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show discussing why you shouldn’t hold gold or cash, how governments can destabalize economies, and what investments you should hold instead.
Read More...$ ?s: Three Reasons to Be Thankful You Avoided the Facebook IPO
Huge financial incentives motivate a newly minted public stock to attempt to keep their best foot forward just long enough for the early investors to maximize their profits.
Read More...How have emerging market equities performed?
I was on the radio today and someone called in claiming that Vanguard Emerging Market ETF (VWO) had done nothing but go down in value.
Read More...Investing in gold and silver coins
A large number of people in the United States are worried about our profligate spending and the resulting devaluation of our currency. They are worried about politics and socialism and the economy.
Read More...Mailbag: I’d like to withdraw money from my IRA to purchase physical silver.
Precious metals will, on average, just keep up with inflation, but your after tax return would mean you fell behind inflation by the 28% tax you must pay.
Read More...Marotta’s 2012 Gone-Fishing Portfolio
A gone-fishing portfolio has a limited number of investments with a balanced asset allocation that should do well with dampened volatility. Its primary appeal is simplicity. As a secondary virtue, it avoids the worst mistakes of the financial services industry.
Read More...Marotta’s 2012 Gone-Fishing Portfolio Calculator
A gone-fishing portfolio has a limited number of investments with a balanced asset allocation that should do well with dampened volatility.
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