investing

There are often many important questions around how to invest  money in your 401(k). For most of us, what we are able to accumulate in our 401(k) during our working lives is going to be a critical component to our retirement. Because of this, it...

It’s 3 o’clock in the morning and I’m worried. Last week, the markets were down hard, with the S&P 500 going from positive double digit territory at the end of the quarter to down just under break-even only 26 days later. Here’s what the week...

How much money do we need to have to begin investing? The truth to this question is a lot less than we think. Many people I have talked to believe that they need to have thousands of dollars saved up to fund their initial investment, however this...

The TINSTAAFL theory is an informal favorite rule among many economists and financial planners like me. TINSTAAFL stands for “There is no such thing as a free lunch”, and means there is a price for everything, whether you know it or not. From an...

Great post by Austin Smith!   Disciplined strategy investing over the long term, rather than trying to time the market fluctuations is a proven strategy for long term portfolio success. Attempting to ‘buy low and sell high’ is incredibly...

  When should you start saving for your retirement? The most accurate answer is yesterday. Time is by far the most important factor on saving for your future. Starting early, combined with the effects of compounding interest can make a world of...

Today’s post was inspired by the excellent book: Team of Teams, by Gen. McChrystal Modern destroyers use gas turbine engines for propulsion and electrical power. As a young junior officer, I was required to learn all about these marvelous...

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ve probably heard about the Bitcoin craze and other cryptocurrencies using distributed ledger technology. I’m a borderline technology geek, so I have been reading about, and...

The market is hot right now – to say the least. We all know it’s cyclical in nature so in a way it feels like we’re just waiting on the inevitable downturn: we just don’t know when, and we don’t know by how much. At current valuation levels,...

A recent Wall Street Journal front page story, “The Morningstar Mirage,” stated what most advisers should already know: Morningstar ratings don’t mean much. In my experience, those who rely upon star ratings do so for one of three reasons: ...

Created by Congress twenty years ago, the Roth IRA is starting to show up in seasoned retirement plans in a big way. I remember when the Roth IRA first came out, I thought of it as a tool best suited for younger people in lower tax brackets. Now...

At this point, just about everyone seems to be enrolled in a high deductible Health Savings Account (HSA) compatible health plan. The escalating costs of healthcare are astounding. I was depressed for days after realizing a few years ago that my...

From time to time, clients ask me to comment on what they hear from financial advisors on the radio. The first thing I try to explain is these are paid advertisements. Local advisors pay for their time on the radio in order to generate leads. Some,...

Wow, the market is pretty hot right now with valuations at all time highs. Data suggests small investors are jumping in with both feet. A recent WSJ article quoted Martin Small, head of U.S. iShares, as saying 85% of their exchange traded funds’...

For the last week, our local news in the DFW area has been all abuzz about problems within the DPFP (Dallas Police & Fire Pension). A great MarketWatch article came out yesterday: Dallas police and fire pension plan problems caused by extraordinary...

At the urging of a friend I scheduled a golf lesson last weekend. The instructor patiently watched as balls ricocheted left and right off my 8 iron. With a grunt, he disappeared. I was about to humbly pack up my equipment when he returned with a...

The Wall Street Journal did a whole series of articles last week on the big shift major mutual fund companies are seeing away from active management. See: Wall Street’s ‘Do-Nothing’ Investing Revolution. The evidence against active management has...

Indexing is not the same as smart, low cost investing. With indexing, you accept the market performance of an index designed to measure market performance. A key point here: market indices are designed to measure performance, not as investments...

One month away from the general election, everyone is talking about how the next President will affect the stock market. Opinions vary based upon political leanings, but most believe there is a connection. I recently reviewed some research from...

As an investment adviser, people ask me all the time “how’s the market doing”, and I always try to answer politely. Believe it or not, I never watch CNBC and unless I’m trading that day, I don’t monitor intraday volume and pricing. I’m too busy...

updated April 25, 2018   If your advisor is not on the same page with you, it makes it harder to weather downturns. There are five very basic service points your advisor should be hitting, and if she is not, you should consider making a change. ...

With billions of dollars exchanging hands each day, continual fluctuations in prices, and constant media chatter about the “market”, it’s easy to lose sight of what we are actually purchasing when we buy publicly-traded stocks.  Let’s try to...

We headed into our first semi-annual client reviews of the year last week with a certain level of apprehension. A big drop in the market right out of the gate wore heavily on my mind. Are we headed into a bear market? Maybe. We’ve been through...

For many years now, the Department of Labor has been steadily attacking business as usual in the retirement plan selling business. Based upon the Pension Protection Act of 2006, final regulations were put in place in 2012 to insure full...

As you invest and save more, the movement of money between accounts becomes a larger part of your financial life. Here is some good information on the process, safety protocols, and different options available for moving money between accounts: ...