Where to Find the Hidden Fees of Commission-Based Firms
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Very few consumers actually read the SEC filings for the firms they have engaged.

What Are The Problems With Illiquid Alternative Investments?
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The larger the spread, the more likely you should neither buy nor sell the asset.

The Happy Habits of Appreciation and Gratitude
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Life planning begins as thoughts and ultimately shapes our entire destiny.

One Powerful Method To Achieve Higher Investment Returns
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Long term investing does not require making quick emotional responses.

You Want An Advisor Who Keeps You From “The Big Mistake”
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Real financial advisors stand between you and the Big Mistake.

Write Down Your Investment Plan
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To protect yourself from behavioral errors, write down your investment plan.

Radio: Budgeting Benefits
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Having a budget as a boundary for your spending gives you the freedom to work within that boundary, and keeps you on track to save for your goals.

How Cookie-Cutter Powers of Attorney Fail
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This style of Power of Attorney certainly gets the job done, but there are a few ways that the cookie-cutter POA most frequently fails to meet people’s wishes.

Ten Principles for Teaching Children about Money
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Here are ten principles for teaching children about money.

What Is Settlement Date And Why Does It Matter?
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Most investors think that whenever you buy or sell a security the money is immediately deducted or deposited into your account. This is not true.

Family Budgeting
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If a budget isn’t a team effort, one member of the family will hold the purse strings and everyone else will be resentful.

Guidelines for Using Margin
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Too much leverage is risky because it endangers meeting your goals.

Fund Analyzer Shows Value Of Lower Fees
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Continually curating a list of low cost funds is valuable for long term investors.

Government Requires 2.5 Hours of Daily Work
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Without the burden of federal, state, and local taxes, you could leave your job at 2:27pm every day and earn the same salary.

What is Margin?
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We don’t normally recommend being on margin, but we recommend having the option in case it is needed.

Radio Interview: The Burden of Government Taxation
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David John Marotta was recently interviewed on radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show, discussing taxation and the burden of government.

Investing Strategies for an Irrational Brain
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Recency bias is perhaps the most difficult natural bias to overcome.

Department of Labor’s New Fiduciary Ruling
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Any legislation which can include FINRA’s commission-based advisors will dilute what it means to be a fiduciary.

Dimensional On: Staying in the Market
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“It is always a difficult experience for investors to stay in markets.”

Tax Loss Harvesting and Wash Sales
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Wash sale rules need to be followed when realizing capital losses for taxes but can be burdensome to track and monitor.

How To Instill Good Financial Habits In Your Children
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Give your children experience spending their own money.

Dimensional On: Why Should We Invest Internationally?
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“Historically there has been a wide variety of returns from US and International stocks, and when one does poorly often another does well.”

How Long Should I Give An Investment Plan?
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Even the most brilliantly crafted investment plan has to be given time to work.

Fund Your 401(k) If You Believe In Free Markets
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I recently read a foolish article entitled “Call for a National Savings Plan” that assumed we haven’t tried a national savings plan already.

Streamline Your Finances with Schwab Checking
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This Schwab checking account provides six impressive services not true for most local banks.

Can’t All Advisors Make Trades On My Behalf?
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Only give someone who is required to honor your best interest the ability to trade in your account without talking to you.

Why We Do Not Use Active Management
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Index investing seeks to track the return of a portion of the market. The opposite is active management.

Radio: Three Investing Mistakes
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David John Marotta was interviewed on radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show discussing three big investing mistakes.

How to Send Schwab Notifications to Two Emails
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A little extra work can ensure that both spouses receive important email notifications from their custodian.

Mailbag: Why Doesn’t Everyone Want High-Yield Bonds?
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We don’t recommend high yield bonds because they do nothing good for your overall portfolio.

Start Early on Retirement Planning
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Retirement planning should begin the moment you receive your first paycheck.

Nine Unfortunate Facts of Health Savings Accounts
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An HSA is one of many accounts used in comprehensive wealth management for tax optimization and planning.

Radio: Market Returns for 2015
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David John Marotta was interviewed on the Schilling Show discussing how the markets performed last year and lists 4 mistakes to avoid.

Why Gold Has Utterly Failed as a “Safe Haven”
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Gold sounds like it should provide a safe haven of your purchasing power much more than it has actually done so.

How Roth Conversions Are Reported to the IRS
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is notorious for misunderstanding the recharacterizations of Roth conversions.

Investing Mistake: Forgetting About Inflation
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Taking inflation into account changes nearly everything about financial planning.

A Case Study In Volatility
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While volatility can make a fund more attractive on the way up, it can also make a fund less attractive on the way down.

Asset Allocations for UVA Retirement Plans at Fidelity
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The University of Virginia plan includes funds sufficient to produce these excellent portfolios.

Marotta’s 2016 UVA Fidelity 403(b) Calculator
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Age appropriate asset allocation for 2016 using the choices available in the University of Virginia’s Fidelity 403(b) Tax Deferred Savings Plan (TDSP).

Marotta’s 2016 UVA Fidelity 401(a) Plans Calculator
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Age appropriate asset allocation for 2016 using the choices available in several of the University of Virginia’s Fidelity Retirement Plans.

What Are The Odds That The Stock Market Will Go Up This Year?
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The stock is more likely to go up than down, but how volatile are the markets really?

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from IRAs
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QCDs allow individuals age 70 1/2 or older to give directly to a charity from your IRA without counting the distribution as taxable income.

Documentary: Farming in Fear
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The story of Liberty Farm’s struggle to survive the regulatory attack by Fauquier County government.

Marotta’s 2016 Vanguard Gone-Fishing Portfolio
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Here is a review of Marotta’s 2015 Vanguard Gone-Fishing Portfolio and a description of our changes for 2016.

Marotta’s 2016 Vanguard Gone-Fishing Portfolio Calculator
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If you are using Vanguard, we have created a gone fishing portfolio using only low-cost Vanguard mutual funds to help save money on transaction costs.

A Complete Guide To Donor Advised Funds
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A donor advised fund makes the process of charitable giving simple and easy.

Radio Interview: Wills, Estates, and Beneficiaries
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David and host Rob Schilling discuss what estate planning is, why you want to do it, and explain some of the jargon.

Marotta’s 2016 Gone-Fishing Portfolio
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The gone-fishing portfolio provides suggested asset allocations for investors up to age 70 and up to $1 million.

Marotta’s 2016 Gone-Fishing Portfolio Calculator
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A gone-fishing portfolio has a limited number of investments with a balanced asset allocation that should do well with dampened volatility.

IRS Wants Charities To Collect And Report Sensitive Donor Identity Information
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Late last year, the IRS proposed asking charities to collect sensitive donor identity information for any charitable gift of more than $250.

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