Residential Real Estate vs Equities
February 11, 2010 Our Client Workbook asks the question "What is the best investment you ever made and why?". The answer we usually get is some investment that was made 20-30 years ago - sometimes a...
View ArticleOutperform 90% of your neighbors?
February 13, 2010 About three years ago, I ran across a study I have since been talking about with all new prospects: Dalbar & Associates wanted to determine how average investors did as compared...
View ArticleFinancial Planning Thoughts
February 23, 2010 The past six months have been rough for several clients, which brings home to me the importance of financial planning now, while life is status-quo for most people. Please consider...
View ArticleOwning Individual Stocks
March 1, 2010 Some individuals I meet with own and love individual stocks (i.e., Coke, Raytheon, Berkshire Hathaway, etc.) This is what I tell them: You can become wealthy by underdiversifying (owning...
View ArticleRecommended Reading
March 6, 2010 I received a request recently for a good financial book to recommend to a couple just starting out. I recommended The 7 Most Important Money Decisions You'll Ever Make. This is a book...
View ArticleNew Taxes Passed as Part of Health Care Bill 3/22/10
March 22, 2010 The health care bill passed last night, and the President is expected to sign it. Not far behind is the reconciliation package of amendments - also expected to pass this week. Part of...
View ArticleBusiness Tax Credits Available
March 22, 2010 Recently the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act was signed into law. The parts of this law that we expect will pertain to the largest portion of our business clients include the...
View ArticleMillionaire Next Door
April 1, 2010 Recently, Grace Groner, a long term resident of Lake Forest, IL passed away at age 100, leaving a $7 million estate bequested to her alma mater. Ms. Groner worked as a secretary for 43...
View ArticleDFA Receives Positive Write up on Bloomberg
April 22, 2010 As clients of mine know, Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) is the mutual fund family I primarily use in their (and my own) portfolios. See...
View ArticleSelling Fear
April 30, 2010 Annuities are an easy sell to baby boomers in their 50s who just experienced the terror of what 2008 and early 2009 markets did to their retirement portfolios. Annuities can provide some...
View ArticleLessons Learned 5/9/2010
May 9, 2010 The prior two years and, indeed, the prior week have emphasized the following points: You will never know what the economy is going to do in the short to intermediate term You will never...
View ArticleCredit Scores
May 15, 2010 In this age of difficult credit, it is more important than ever to know what your credit score is and review your credit report at least annually. We suggest purchasing your FICO credit...
View ArticleWhy We Reinvest Dividends
May 16, 2010 (All figures courtesy of Jeremy Siegel's excellent book, The Future For Investors) If you invested $1,000 in stocks in 1871 and reinvested all dividends, you would have accumulated just...
View ArticleThis Time is STILL Not Different 5/20/2010
May 20, 2010 "Cash combined with courage in a crisis is priceless." - Warren Buffett "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana Something to keep in mind during...
View ArticleStock Picking & Warren Buffett
June 14, 2010 Investing with a fee-only advisor is a very different experience from using an advisor at one of the large Wall Street firms (brokers). Brokers are frequently trying to pick the best...
View ArticleAverage Investors Behave Poorly, Again
August 3, 2010 The July 12, 2010 front page story in the Wall Street Journal “Small Investors Flee Stocks, Changing Market Dynamics” reminds me why all investors, especially small investors, need a...
View ArticleThe Bond Bubble 9/13/10
September 13, 2010 As my clients know, fixed income investments ("bonds" are one example) are to be owned not to make money, but to maintain stability in times of market fluctuation (take your risks...
View ArticleReaping Equity Rewards
September 30, 2010 The average joint life expectancy of today's retiring couple who don't smoke is 30 years. In the past 30 years, the cost of living has tripled (evaluate the increase in the cost of a...
View ArticleGuaranteed Return Investment Products
October 1, 2010 Is it possible to have a guaranteed return on an investment with an unlimited upside? That is what some sellers of equity indexed annuities are claiming. All products are different, so...
View ArticleLife Insurance Makes Sense for Most, Not Just Rich
October 14, 2010 This was the headline over the letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal on Monday October 11, 2010 by LIMRA, the Life Insurance and Market Research Association. While I agree...
View ArticleThe ''Lost Decade'' - Or Was It? 11/1/2010
November 1, 2010 How many times in the past few months have we heard that the past 10 years was a wash for equities? The question that really matters is: what did you earn on your investments in those...
View ArticleWhat Are ETFs?
January 6, 2011 ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) differ from mutual funds in several important ways. Mutual funds are traded between the investor and the fund company. ETFs are traded in between individual...
View ArticleCollege Planning
January 18, 2011 A common concern parents have when meeting with me is “how am I going to pay for college?” Some other questions parents should contemplate are: What will your child be studying? Where...
View ArticleChina vs. USA 2/9/2011
February 9, 2011 Is China going to eclipse the United States economically in a post-capitalist world? Not likely…forgetting about their human rights atrocities, economic inequality of population and...
View ArticleRetired Clients and Significant Tax Savings 6/28/11
During your working life, you focus on accumulation of assets for retirement. What happens as you approach retirement? How should your assets be allocated? When you need distributions, should you take...
View ArticleInvestment Thoughts 7/5/2011
Why do investors purchase investment products (such as annuities) with surrender charges of 7-15 years? Why would an investment need a surrender charge unless so many people try to get out of it after...
View ArticleGold - Inflation Hedge? -- updated 9/26/11
February 5, 2010 -- UPDATE 9/26/2011 There has been a lot of talk about gold lately. January 2010's SmartMoney has several letters to the editor from individuals who bought gold "a few months ago" and...
View ArticleTemporary Declines 8/3/2011
August 3, 2011 Things to keep in mind during market turmoil: A diversified portfolio of 80% equities and 20% fixed income has historically earned 9-12% per year on average over the long term[1]....
View ArticleMarket Crashes and Other Catastrophes 8/12/2011
August 12, 2011 Today I was presented with a book from an acquaintance that predicts further doom and destruction as it relates to the economy and the stock market. My response to this is as follows:...
View ArticleGold - AGAIN? 8/16/2011
August 16, 2011 Gold is being touted as an investment opportunity again, in this atmosphere of impending financial doom. Since we deal with long term investment returns, we thought we would look at...
View ArticleSmart Financial Planning 8/19/2011
August 19, 2011 There is a lot of talk these days of rising interest rates and increasing inflation. In general, as interest rates rise, asset values (such as bonds and real estate) will fall. However,...
View ArticleDisability Insurance Info
August 23, 2011 - I came across an informative article in Kiplingers regarding disability insurance and its cost - http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/better-deals-on-disability-insurance.html
View ArticleEmployment After College Graduation
September 26, 2011 With all the information about college choices and rankings available, it is easy to be overwhelmed. Recently there was an article in SmartMoney (September 2011) that focused on what...
View ArticleDFA TIPS fund
September 26, 2011 I follow the best- and worst-performing mutual funds as reported by the different industry publications I read; it is always nice to see DFA funds listed in the top ten. Since these...
View ArticleInvestment Perspective 10/3/2011
October 3, 2011 In the month of my birth – November 1969 – Sesame Street premiered and Dave Thomas opened his first restaurant - Wendy’s. The month before (not by much – it was October 31, 1969)...
View ArticleInvestment Action to Take Now 10/31/2011
October 31, 2011 Happy Halloween - not so happy in my house, as trick or treating has been canceled this year due to power outages. Some clients I have spoken with are leery of the market volatility...
View ArticleTurn Medical Expenses into Tax Savings 2/7/2012
February 7, 2012 Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can result in turning all your medical expenses, copays, deductibles and prescriptions into an above-the-line deduction for tax purposes, saving hundreds...
View ArticleAbsolute Return Funds 2/29/2012
February 29, 2012 Absolute Return Funds – Absolutely no better than a patient, diversified approach. Are these funds just a passing fad? Per Morningstar, of the 871 total funds classified as...
View ArticleRetirement Withdrawal Rates
June 4, 2012 - Wow, it has been a while since I posted here. If you have not already, "like" our Facebook page an you will get my (much shorter and more frequent) commentary on financial planning and...
View ArticleStock Values & Earnings as Compared to Increases in the Cost of Living...
Yes, I really wish I could have come up with a better title for this article...but I found this information compelling. The average retirement of a couple in their 60s now is expected to be 30 years....
View ArticleEmployer Reimbursements for Health Premiums
Do you reimburse your employees for their health insurance premiums? If so, you may have just subjected yourself to an excise tax of $100 PER DAY PER EMPLOYEE. This excise tax, levied under Section...
View ArticleThis Time is Not Different!
It’s easy to get caught up in all the media hype surrounding bull or bear markets. You hear or read things like “high oil prices are here to stay” (fuel prices have since fallen like a stone) and/or...
View ArticleWhy Do I Need A Revocable Living Trust?
I was browsing the internet the other day, being completely amazed at the personal information I found online about various people I knew. I found people who owned over a million dollars in real...
View ArticleIs The Stock Market Rigged?
I hear variations on this theme from people who fall into two categories – those that don’t really understand how the markets work, and those that spend a lot of time on reading/listening to political...
View ArticleStock Market Returns - A Gamble?
In addition to “Is The Stock Market Rigged?”, I have heard from an occasional prospect is that they don’t want to invest in stocks because it is akin to gambling. That could not be further from the...
View ArticleMaximizing Social Security Benefits
When and how to collect Social Security is a complicated question. It depends on many factors - age, cash flow, marital status and health being some of them. Most people know that you can start...
View ArticlePension Max
Much has been written on pension maximization strategies - if you are married, should you take the higher single life pension and buy life insurance for your spouse, or should you take the lower amount...
View ArticleSupercharging Your Retirement Savings
As of late 2014, you can now (sometimes double) your retirement contributions and, best of all, roll the increase to your Roth IRA when you leave employment. Your employer's plan and your cash flow has...
View ArticleKiplinger's Personal Finance - Emergency Funds
Jean was quoted in the July 2016 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, suggesting possible sources of emergency funds...
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