Should I Change My Strategy During the Presidential Election Cycle?
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Should investors get out of the markets during an election year?

Can the Misery Index Predict a Second Drop?
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There are many possible futures which could produce any number of outcomes that would be normal market volatility.

Should I Take Everything Out Because the Markets are Recovering?
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Dare to be dull. When you rebalance instead of following the crowd, you set yourself up for greater expected returns and are the definition of being a contrarian.

Did Gold Do Better Than The Markets? (2020)
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Gold is extremely volatile and still doesn’t do much more than vaguely keep up with inflation. You can do better.

Energy Stocks Have Been Disappointing Recently (April 2020)
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Diversification means always having something to complain about. Recently, it has been energy.

Remembering The 2008 Crash as a Financial Planner
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Sometimes, you don’t get a second chance to be brave.

Remembering The 2008 Crash as an Investor
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I knew the market was going down, but I accidentally took Bogle’s advice and didn’t peek at my own accounts.

The Dot Com Bubble: The Bear Market of 2001
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Diversification is important. Diversification did not eliminate losses, but it did lose less and recover more quickly.

How a Stability Allocation Helps During a Bear Market (and What To Do If You Forgot One)
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While the appreciation allocation helps you achieve your financial goals, introducing a stability allocation into your portfolio can prevent your portfolio from running out of money.

Stock Buybacks Have Exceeded Fund Flows. So What?
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This disappointment with good stock market returns explains their need to criticize stock buybacks.

‘You Make Most Of Your Money In A Bear Market; You Just Don’t Realize It At The Time’
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You don’t have to time the market to make money in the market. In fact, timing the market is usually a losers game as the market often pushes your emotions to do exactly the wrong thing.

The Lower The Market Falls The More Important It Is To Stay Invested
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A recovery after a significant downturn in the markets is often market by steep growth.

Is ‘Sell The Bounce’ A Good Investing Strategy?
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“Sell the bounce” is never a good strategy because of the first word.

13 Financial Actions to Consider During Market Downturns Like This
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Market returns are out of your control. These thirteen actions are in your control.

Roth Conversions are More Valuable During Bear Markets
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Convert something today. Convert because the markets are down, or maybe convert just because you likely won’t regret it in 30 years when the markets will likely be up a lot more than they are now.

Bear Markets Look Worse on Schwab.com
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Now that we are in the midst of a bear market, investment returns are down 20% or more and Schwab’s personal value chart makes it look even worse.

Markets are Down? Time to Rebalance!
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During a down market like this one, now is your chance both to harvest capital losses as they occur and rebalance your portfolio.

How Can I Sleep at Night with My Assets in the Stock Market?
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There are two critically important investment principles during retirement: 1) Stay calm and 2) Rebalance.

When Will The Markets Stop Dropping in 2020?
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For many investors glued to the news, the global outlook appears to be perilous with no prospects of growth for the world economy.

Radio: Financial Peace in Days of Volatility
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As the stock market trends upward, this dip in market prices can be perceived as stocks being discounted and is likely a great time to buy low.

Q&A: Should I Pull Out of the Stock Market Now?
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The fact that you are worried enough to ask might mean that now is a good chance to take stock in your investment strategy.

Don’t Let Politics Make You Afraid of Investing
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Don’t let your political emotions cause you to be fearful about the economy. Those misplaced fears may impoverish your financial well-being.

The Price of Listening to Dire Predictions
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We do not try to time the markets and instead we believe it is always a good time to have a balanced portfolio.

Longest Economic Expansion In United States History
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A long expansion is nothing to fear.

Inverted Yield Curve Uninverted Without Recession
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Investors hurt their finances more by missing out than they do by staying in.

2019 In Review
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Investors usually use short time periods and common indexes to measure performance.

How To Win The Virginia Stock Market Game
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If you do compete and want to share your results with us, fill out our Contact form and let us know about your strategy. We may even write an article about you.

What To Expect Now That The S&P 500 Reached 3,200
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On Thursday, December 19, 2019, the S&P 500 Price Index closed above 3,200 for the first time in history. What should we expect going forward?

What To Expect After Dow 28,000
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On Friday, November 16, 2019, the Dow closed above 28,000 for the first time in history. What should we expect going forward?

You Are Probably Paying Too Much For Your Mutual Funds
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Check your own funds. You are likely paying too much for your mutual funds.

The Uncommon Average of Investment Returns
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The markets are inherently volatile, but they have also been inherently profitable. Setting your expectations accurately can help you stay invested long enough to overlook disappointing results and experience the long-term growth you are seeking.

Schwab’s 3 Myths of Responsible Investing Are Actually True
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In reality, all three “myths” are cause for real concern about SRI, ESG, and other so-called impact investing.

The Cost of Keeping Some Money Safe
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Keeping $100,000 might cost you $500,000 in lost opportunity costs over 20 years.

Value Investing During Seasons of Growth
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Generally speaking, Value stocks outperform Growth stocks. Investing based upon this finding is called “Value Investing.”

2019 Second Quarter And Year-To-Date Returns For Our 6 Asset Classes
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During 2019, the U.S. Stock Market generally rose during the four quarters from the lows set by the Almost Bear Market of 2018.

Does An Inverted Yield Curve Mean I Should Get Out Of The Markets?
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It is easy for an inverted yield curve to spook investors.

Many Funds Close, Others Should
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There is a science to portfolio construction. Selecting a random group of companies is just as bad as selecting a random group of funds.

Do Top-Ranked Funds Repeat?
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Dimensional’s analysis found that top funds do not repeat.

Q&A: How Much Attention Should Fees Get?
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“Has the focus on expense ratios caused the public to lose focus of more critical financial measures, such as performance?” Actually, expense ratios and 12b-1 fees should get even more attention than they are getting. Here’s why.

Diagnostic Tool: What Are Normal Market Movements?
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It is common for investors to be surprised by movements in their portfolios, but it is harder to determine if these movements mean that anything should be done.

Q&A: What is the Average Real Return of the Stock Market?
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The real return of the stock market going forward is often debated.

2019 Analysis of Fund Families on the Marotta Buy List
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The Marotta Investment Committee typically builds portfolios with average expense ratios of about 0.24%.

Ameriprise Pay-To-Play Funds Are Poorly Ranked By Morningstar
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If you own these fund families with your Ameriprise Advisor, perhaps you should consider switching to a fee-only financial advisor.

Radio: Best Time to Invest 2019
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There is always an excuse to delay doing something that involves risk. They close the show reminding you not to wait. Invest now.

The No-Bear Bull Market of the 1990s
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Neither the dire pessimism at the start of the Bull Market of the 1990s nor the blind optimism at the end were warranted.

The Dangers of Individual Stock Investing
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Portfolio construction is extremely important to achieving your long-term goals. Don’t risk those goals by assuming that individual stock-picking is a superior strategy.

CFA Institute Advocates for Systematic Rebalancing
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Knowing that rebalancing boosts returns is useless unless you have the time, discipline, and nerve to follow through and actually execute the trades.

Is ‘Buy On The Dips’ A Good Investing Strategy?
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“Buy on the dips” is a good strategy only because of the first word.

Radio: The Market Crash of 2008
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Market corrections are so common as to be largely ignored by long term investors.

Schwab’s New Personal Value Chart Promotes the Worst Investing Habits
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Schwab’s presentation is designed to show a real time accounting of your portfolio’s value. It is not designed to report on your portfolio’s performance.

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