A properly-diversified investment portfolio should include real estate in addition to the typical stocks and bonds. Do you know why?
investing
Index Mutual Fund or ETF?
Over the last few years exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have greatly increased in popularity. As of 2016, there was approximately $2.9 trillion held in ETFs globally. Because of their growing popularity with financial advisers and individual investors alike, understanding the nuances of ETFs is critical in order for advisers to be better equipped to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers. ETFs are comprised of a portfolio securities designed to replicate a particular index. Common examples of indices that ETFs replicate are the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, and Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond Index. Like many stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, ETFs can also be tracked daily in many financial publications and online. Due to the lack of trading in the portfolio there are very little capital gains distributions in which investors must pay taxes. Because of this low […]
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Mutual Funds vs. 529 Plans
Saving for college is a tough job – on par with saving for retirement, and often in direct conflict with that goal as well. Adding to the difficulty of the task is the fact that there are so many different options out there (in terms of investment vehicles) that really muddy the waters for the individual college saver. One question that comes up very often is whether it is just as effective to utilize tax-effficient mutual funds instead of 529 plans as we save for college. The idea is that the mutual fund can generate a higher overall return than the 529 plan due to the additional costs associated with the administration of the 529 plan. It is a fact that most 529 plans charge management fees that have a direct impact on the overall return of the account, and it is also a fact that many tax-efficient mutual funds […]
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Maintaining Confidence in an Uncertain World
All around us, every day, we see signs of an unstable financial world. The stock market has been all over the place, instability continues in the Middle East (like it will ever change?); at home we’re confronted by a presidential election that offers little choice other than to hold your nose and vote for the one that you believe is likely to do the least damage. Add to this the rising cost of “getting by” and there’s little wonder many folks are very concerned and have little confidence about the future. What Can You Do? I don’t suggest hiding under your bed – this has never worked for me, and sometimes you find things there that you would rather not! On the other hand, there are few things that you can do to help get through this uncertainty, and maybe you’ll decide that it’s not so scary after all. For […]
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Our Investment Philosophy
One of the most important parts of your overall financial plan is the investment plan. The investment plan is made up of three distinct parts: present value, projection of future inflows and outflows, and allocation. It is allocation that we’re most interested in with this article. Allocation is the process of determining the “mix” of your investment assets: stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. as well as domestic and international categories. Allocation is determined by the philosophy that you choose to follow with regard to investment management. Our philosophy is summed up as follows: Diversify Reduce Costs Pay Attention to Economic Signals Maintain Discipline – Stick To Your Plan Now, there are three primary schools of thought that are often relied upon to develop an Investment Philosophy: technical analysis, fundamental analysis, efficient markets hypothesis. Technical Analysis is the review of charts of stocks and funds, with the belief that patterns within the […]
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Diversification: I Know I Should, But Why?
Any discussion of the tenets of long-term investing includes the recommendation for diversification. This concept is delivered almost without thought – after all, as children we are taught “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!”. But have you ever stopped to consider just why we should diversify? Of course, in the example of the saying about the eggs, it’s simple spreading of risk: if you have all your eggs in one basket and you drop that basket… all your eggs have broken! By spreading your eggs into a second basket, if one basket is dropped, only those eggs in that basket will break, and you’ve still got one basket of good, unbroken eggs. What if we add a third basket? A fourth? As you might imagine, it soon becomes too clumsy to carry so many baskets (potentially one for each egg). One person couldn’t possibly manage twelve baskets effectively just to […]
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Personality Influences Financial Decisions
The recent volatility in the stock market has everyone a bit uneasy – even folks who have worked with a trusted financial adviser for years. But if you’ve never worked with an adviser before, you may be surprised to find that one of the first things he or she will do is ask you to fill out a risk analysis questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to help you understand your financial decisions and the process of making decisions. It’s all tied to your personality, your own unique world-view. Why is risk analysis important before you make decisions with your money? Risk tolerance is an important part of investing – that should be understood at the outset. But the real value of answering a lot of questions about your risk tolerance is to tell you what you don’t know – how the sources of your money, the way you made it, how outside forces […]
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401(k) Mistakes (also applies to other Retirement Plans!)
These days you’re pretty much on your own when it comes to planning for your retirement. Granted, many state and local governments have a pension plan, but beyond that, precious few employers provide a pension these days. Typically retirement benefits only include a 401(k) or other deferred retirement plan, which means it’s up to you! For the purpose of brevity, I’ll refer to 401(k) plans throughout this article; please understand that most of the information applies to 403(b) plans, 401(a) plans, and 457 plans as well as Keogh, SIMPLE, and SEP IRA plans. For most of us, the 401(k) is the default account that must take on the role that the pension plan did for previous generations. Paying attention to and avoiding the following mistakes can help you to ensure that you have a financially-secure future. #1 – Choosing Not to Participate It’s amazing how many folks, young or old, don’t participate in their […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on 
Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at 
Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be 
An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the 
Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the 
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.