Three Phases of Retirement Investing
The concept of retirement is really a recent phenomenon, but in the last century it’s become solidly entrenched in the American worker’s mind. No one wants to work during old age, and Social Security isn’t enough in most cases. Preparing for the golden years takes a long time. There are...
Why Dollar Cost Averaging?
How do you invest new cash? Do you immediately jump into the market any time you receive a monetary windfall? Or do you patiently horde cash waiting until you think the market is low enough to buy in? If you’re attentive to the market, this may be your preferred method. The effectiveness of...
Is Modern Portfolio Theory Out-of-Date?
The investment landscape has seen some major changes in the last two decades. Financial and technology companies came and went, stock market values soared, plummeted and rebounded, housing derivatives blew up, and other foundations were laid bare. Even the bedrock of investing theories related to...
Behavioral Finance: How Investors Really Think
Too often we humans think we are 100% rational. We believe we’re able to sift through the market data and make informed decisions about our investments. Unfortunately, that is not the case. After all, we are still human – swayed by emotions, authority, rationality, and other unseen factors. The science...
Is Buy and Hold Failing Investors?
When it comes to investment strategy, the mantra of buy and hold has been a prevailing principle of success for decades. Looking at investment indexes can sometimes support this theory that if you own “the market” long enough that you can have investment growth that outpaces inflation after taxes. ...
Five Tips For an Easier Retirement
Generally, retirement planning isn’t considered a relaxing leisure activity, but it’s a necessary step to enjoy your later years. We’ve warned you before about four risks that could ruin your retirement. In a more positive context, we want to help your retirement be secure to reduce stress and...
Four Risks That Could Ruin Your Retirement
What are the risks of retirement and how do we plan for them? In recent articles, we’ve written a lot about retirement and different aspects of planning for it. Often risks are specific to your particular retirement plan, but several are common in all plans. Even after you transition into retirement,...
Should Boomers Save for Health Care?
A few weeks ago we outlined five common investor mistakes. All of those mistakes presuppose you are saving money for retirement. Savings are essential to any retirement plan, but most people have other needs, too. What about health care? After all, Medicare doesn’t start until age 65. Has...
Do 401Ks Need ETFs?
Retirement accounts like 401(k)s, 403(b)s and Roth IRAs can be invested many ways. For employee-sponsored plans like 401ks or 403bs, employers usually opt for diversified trading pools, specifically mutual funds. Traditional mutual funds give employees the benefit of diversification while providing 401k...
To Invest in a Roth or Not?
While the title of this article could stir many a great rock ‘n roll debate about the front men of Van Halen, we’ll focus on investing for retirement. Americans are not saving for retirement as much as they once did. The frugality of “the Greatest Generation” has steadily given way to...
