Investments

Gold is extremely volatile and still doesn’t do much more than vaguely keep up with inflation. You can do better.

Diversification means always having something to complain about. Recently, it has been energy.

Sometimes, you don’t get a second chance to be brave.

I knew the market was going down, but I accidentally took Bogle’s advice and didn’t peek at my own accounts.

Diversification is important. Diversification did not eliminate losses, but it did lose less and recover more quickly.

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.

This disappointment with good stock market returns explains their need to criticize stock buybacks.

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.

A recovery after a significant downturn in the markets is often market by steep growth.

“Sell the bounce” is never a good strategy because of the first word.

Market returns are out of your control. These thirteen actions are in your control.

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.

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.

During a down market like this one, now is your chance both to harvest capital losses as they occur and rebalance your portfolio.

There are two critically important investment principles during retirement: 1) Stay calm and 2) Rebalance.

For many investors glued to the news, the global outlook appears to be perilous with no prospects of growth for the world economy.

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.

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 your political emotions cause you to be fearful about the economy. Those misplaced fears may impoverish your financial well-being.

We do not try to time the markets and instead we believe it is always a good time to have a balanced portfolio.

A long expansion is nothing to fear.

Investors hurt their finances more by missing out than they do by staying in.

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

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.

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?

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

Check your own funds. You are likely paying too much for your mutual funds.

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.

In reality, all three “myths” are cause for real concern about SRI, ESG, and other so-called impact investing.

Keeping $100,000 might cost you $500,000 in lost opportunity costs over 20 years.

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

During 2019, the U.S. Stock Market generally rose during the four quarters from the lows set by the Almost Bear Market of 2018.

It is easy for an inverted yield curve to spook investors.

There is a science to portfolio construction. Selecting a random group of companies is just as bad as selecting a random group of funds.

Dimensional’s analysis found that top funds do not repeat.

“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.

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.

The real return of the stock market going forward is often debated.

The Marotta Investment Committee typically builds portfolios with average expense ratios of about 0.24%.

If you own these fund families with your Ameriprise Advisor, perhaps you should consider switching to a fee-only financial advisor.

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

Neither the dire pessimism at the start of the Bull Market of the 1990s nor the blind optimism at the end were warranted.

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.

Knowing that rebalancing boosts returns is useless unless you have the time, discipline, and nerve to follow through and actually execute the trades.

“Buy on the dips” is a good strategy only because of the first word.

Market corrections are so common as to be largely ignored by long term investors.

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.

To make the strategy of jumping in and out of the markets successful would require a precision only achieved by luck.

Ten years after our original article we review how sage the advice was.

Run, do not walk, away from outrageous claims.