What exactly is the “sequence of returns”? The phrase describes the yearly variation in an investment portfolio’s rate of return. But what kind of impact do these deviations from the average return have on a portfolio’s final value? Let’s take a closer look at a few different investment scenarios. The...
One reality of life is that risk is ever present. It exists in our commute to work, in our investment choices, and in our lifestyle decisions. Some risks can be transferred to an insurance company (e.g. auto or homeowners), while others we assume ourselves. When you choose to bear...
Information vs. instinct. When it comes to investing, many people believe they have a “knack” for choosing good investments. But what exactly is that “knack” based on? The fact is, the choices we make with our assets can be strongly influenced by factors, many of them emotional, that we may...
As a young investor, you have a powerful ally on your side: time. When you start investing in your twenties or thirties for retirement, you can put it to work for you. The power of compounding. Many people underestimate it, so it is worth illustrating. Let’s take a look using a...
When you read about money matters, you may see the phrase, “getting your financial house in order.” What exactly does that mean? To some, when your financial “house is in order,” it means it is built on a solid foundation. It means that you have the “pillars” in place that...
When you marry or simply share a household with someone, your life changes—and your approach to managing your money may change as well. The good news is it’s usually not so difficult. At some point, you will have to ask yourselves some money questions—questions that pertain not only to...
Investment firms have a client service feature that may be a benefit to certain investors. They will ask you whether you would like to provide the name and information of a trusted contact.1 You do not have to supply this information, but it may offer some advantages. The request is...
The Internal Revenue Service estimates that taxpayers and businesses spend 8.1 billion hours a year complying with tax-filing requirements. To put this into perspective, if all this work were done by a single company, it would need about four million full-time employees and be one of the largest industries...
Have you ever had one of those months? The water heater stops heating, the dishwasher stops washing, and your family ends up on a first-name basis with the nurse at urgent care. Then, as you’re driving to work, you see smoke coming from under your hood. Bad things happen...
Some people approach buying a car like they approach marriage, “‘til death do us part.” Others prefer to keep their options open, trading in every few years for the latest make and model, the most cutting-edge technology, or the highest horsepower. Whichever describes you best, we all face a...