Gone Fishing Portfolios: What Should I Invest In First?
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Our primary gone-fishing portfolio includes investments which may have a trading fee in order to invest at the custodian. How much of an investment is worth paying a trading fee?

Radio: The Value of Ignoring Your Gone-Fishing Portfolio
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On February 13, 2018, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss recent market volatility, what you should do in response to the volatility, what Freedom Investing is, and what the Marotta’s Gone-Fishing Portfolios are.

Best Non-Correlated Asset Classes for the S&P 500
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Even very volatile investments may, in moderate amounts, reduce a portfolio’s volatility if the investment is not correlated with the rest of the portfolio’s components.

Radio: Financial Decisions in 2018
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Talking about the question “How should you manage your money in 2018?” this show covers a lot of ground over 23 minutes of conversation.

The Markets Can’t Go Up Indefinitely, Can They?
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Or do they go up indefinitely, albeit interrupted by some significant corrections?

A Guide to the Bear Markets
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I have gradually been writing a series of articles on each Bear Market to show how quickly they correct and how high the subsequent Bull Market rises.

#TBT Donald Mortlock
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If you ever wondered how the stock market works, this 2006 article is for you. It is both the personal story of David Marotta’s maternal grandfather, Donald Mortlock, and an explanation of how the market of the stock market is made.

Marotta’s 2018 Gone-Fishing Portfolios
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This year, we have made three significant changes and are offering four different gone fishing portfolios based on which custodian hosts your accounts.

Marotta’s 2018 Gone-Fishing Portfolio Calculator
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This gone fishing portfolio is our default portfolio which can be used at any custodian.

Marotta’s 2018 Vanguard Gone-Fishing Portfolio Calculator
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We recommend this gone fishing portfolio for accounts hosted at Vanguard.

Marotta’s 2018 Updated TD Ameritrade Gone-Fishing Portfolio Calculator
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We recommend this gone fishing portfolio for accounts hosted at TD Ameritrade.

Marotta’s 2018 Schwab Gone-Fishing Portfolio
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We recommend this gone fishing portfolio for accounts hosted at Charles Schwab.

Marotta Retirement Plans Add Managed Unitized Trust Options
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Being able to lower total fees while investing part of the portfolio in slightly higher cost country specific exchange traded funds and being able to use exchange traded funds with strategic factors and add a monthly dynamic tilt is a significant accomplishment.

Don’t Buy Bonds Out of Fear
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There are reasons to have the stability of fixed income investments for a portion of your portfolio, but switching to bonds because you are afraid of stocks is not one of them.

A Closer Look at the Past Performance Disclaimer
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We have all seen mutual fund ads stating this Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclaimer, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” Let’s take a closer look at it.

Radio: Understanding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
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On December 12, 2017, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Investing Advice from Michael W. Sonnenfeldt for Entrepreneurs
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The same grit that drives entrepreneurs to success can drive their investments to failure.

2007 In Review
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See how much market return you lost to poor fund choices and how much you lost to high expense ratios.

Radio: Ten Attractive Investment Categories for 2018
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On January 9, 2018, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss ten investment categories that look more attractive than the S&P 500 at the start of 2018.

Is a Home Storage Gold IRA Legal?
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My understanding is that being the custodian of your own IRA assets is illegal. Also, we believe that investing your IRA in gold is not a good idea even if you have a third party custodian.

#TBT You’re Fired! Now Get to Work!
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Back in 2004, we watched Donald Trump as a reality TV show star. This throwback article is an inspiring reminder that “You’re fired!” can be an opportunity to work for yourself.

How to Analyze an Individual Stock
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Let’s use some of the publicly available information about HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS) to see what factors the stock shares.

Spam Solicitation from Albemarle Insurance Agency
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Albemarle Insurance Agency’s hiring solicitation shows the difference between insurance salesmen and fee-only fiduciary advisors.

Marotta on A Christmas Carol
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Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is one of the best stories for talking about economics.

Your Portfolio May Be Missing Canada
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Under weighting Canada could have the effect of diminishing your returns. If your fund under weights Canada, consider switching to a lower cost fund which properly represents it.

Radio: Charlottesville 2018 Health Insurance
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“When Congress acts, whatever it is called it will do the exact opposite. So the Affordable Care Act will make plans not affordable.”

#TBT A Compromise to Achieve Universal Coverage
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“Once the incision is made, there is no turning back. And without a clear understanding of economics, our experimental treatment may kill Uncle Sam.” It’s too bad Congress didn’t take this 2009 article’s advice yet.

Understanding H.R.1 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
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It looks like something from this proposal will become law. Right now, the bill is in committee where the differences are being resolved.

Employers Who Offer A Retirement Plan Have A Fiduciary Responsibility
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Every business owner or director of a non-profit should realize that if they don’t take their fiduciary responsibility seriously they are legally liable for their neglect and inaction.

#TBT SEC Requires New ADV Part 2 Disclosure Form
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This 2011 post marks the birth of the SEC-required “plain English” descriptive brochure of disclosures. As David Marotta predicted, this new requirement was just another feel-good legislation aimed at making people feel safer without actually making them safer.

“Deductions are Expensive” and Other Mistakes in the News
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I recently watched a video by VOX called, “How tax breaks help the rich.” In the video, they discuss wealth inequality and claim that one of the biggest drivers of inequality is the tax code.

Radio: Equifax Breach and Financial Peace
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David John Marotta was interviewed on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show discussing the Equifax breach and Financial Peace University.

How To Double Your Money As Quickly As Possible
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When the client asked my mother, “What is the quickest way to double my money?” she did not hesitate before she answered.

Revisiting “10 Funds Without a Single Losing Year in a Decade”
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In retrospect, Financial-Planning’s slide show was another bit of distraction from the real work of building brilliant portfolios for long term investing.

What Advantages Do Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) Have Over Mutual Funds?
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Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have at least a dozen significant benefits over mutual funds and only a few disadvantages.

#TBT The History of Mutual Funds
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93 years ago there was only one mutual fund. Today, there are thousands. This 2003 article tells the story of how this staple of the financial services world got its start.

What Is The Sharpe Ratio?
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At best, the Sharpe Ratio is a single hard coded straight-line preference curve, and the portfolio with the highest Sharpe Ratio is not necessarily the one which will give you the best chance of meeting your goals.

What Is A “Risk-Free” Guaranteed Investment Return?
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There is no such thing as a risk-free, guaranteed investment. Everything has risks.

Did Obamacare Impoverish Employee’s Retirement Benefits?
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Employers are paying more in benefits, but with the increase in health care costs there is less for retirement contributions.

TD Ameritrade Eliminated Low Cost Commission Free Exchange Traded Funds
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TD Ameritrade has received a large number of complaints. But apparently not enough to change their decision. If you have a TD Ameritrade account perhaps your call will help them change their minds.

Marotta’s 2018 TD Ameritrade Gone-Fishing Portfolio Calculator
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This portfolio uses all TD Ameritrade no-transaction fee exchange-traded funds.

Talking Politics With Clients
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InvestmentNews advocates lying to clients, but I think if your advisor doesn’t have integrity, you can stop there and find a new advisor.

Radio: Getting Your Finances in Order
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David John Marotta was interviewed on Radio 1070’s Schilling Show discussing getting your finances in order.

Navigating Your Employer Retirement Plan Fund Choices
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Since your employer’s plan usually has the most limited number of choices, pick the best it has to offer that fits with in your over all plan.

Choosing Between Your Employee Retirement Account Options
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Putting all of your retirement eggs in one basket is easy to carry, but risky. Fund your employer’s plan with no more than is necessary to get the match and then fund your Roth IRA and build your taxable savings.

Volker’s Bear: The Bear Market of 1982
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Bear markets are often a precipitous decline followed by a slower and steadier recovery. Volker’s Bear is rare in that a slow and steady decline was followed by a sharp precipitous recovery.

Equifax Compromised Your Identity; Lock Down Your Credit.
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The result of this data breach is that anyone with this information will be able to pretend to be you and apply for credit in your name at any time in the future. There is only one way to guard yourself against this possibility: Lock down your credit.

How To Enroll in Equifax’s Free Credit Monitoring
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None of these services makes up for the fact that your sensitive information has been accessed. And after this breach you should assume that every scam artist has all of your information.

Equifax Compromised Your Credit Cards
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Equifax admitted recently that hackers gained access to the sensitive identify and financial information in their database for 143 million people (44% of the U.S. population).

Financial Peace University in Charlottesville
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The Dave Ramsey website has a list of upcoming classes in the Charlottesville area with start dates varying from September 13 through October 11.

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