Investment Forecast: Cloudy with chance of default and variable recession. Trying to read the tea leaves and make prudent investment decisions for clients - or yourself - has been complicated by the headwinds out of Washington lately. The debt ceiling crisis exposes investors to a real risk of loss. Crystal Ball Predictions Depending on how you read your crystal ball, any and all of the ... Read More
Risk
Secrets to Long Term Investing Success
Portfolio Management Secrets of a Successful Investor Investors Ask: How do I improve my investment performance? We're all familiar with the disclosure at the end of all the commercials and print ads: Past Performance Is No Guarantee of Future Results. If that's true, then how can you be sure that someone is doing better than the market? Well, the short answer is: You Can't. But there ... Read More
Cashing Out ESOP Stock
Question for Boston Money Coach: Can I cash out my company ESOP? Bob from Portland Response from Boston Money Coach Steve Stanganelli: Thanks, Bob, for your question. First, let's take a step back and review the basics. In the alphabet soup of finance, an ESOP stands for Employee Stock Ownership Plan. To be clear, this has nothing to do with stock options - those are an entirely different ... Read More
Watership Down, Thanksgiving Turkey, Retirement, Risk and Modern Finance
What could possibly link the children's story of Watership Down, Thanksgiving turkey and retirement investing risks? Well, my mind works in strange ways (just ask my wife and I'm sure my 15-month old Spencer agrees as well). Buy and Hold - A Broken Promise? After all the troubles in the stock market and in financial markets in general over the past couple of years, I was recently rereading an ... Read More
Ask the Adviser: What’s a Market Linked CD and Are There Risks?
It's natural for investors who are still skittish after a decade-long roller coaster ride with the stock market and plummeting real estate values to be risk averse and seek out investment alternatives for protecting their nest eggs for retirement, college funding or simply their emergency cash. And where there is demand, there will be supply. So naturally, financial firms will design products ... Read More
Beat the Holiday Rush: 7 Financial Planning Tips Before Year End
The holiday season is almost upon us. Before we all get caught up in the spirit of the season (or mayhem, depending on your perspective), consider taking time to get your fiscal house in order with these tips. The Year of the RMD Last year, required minimum distributions (RMDs) were not required as Congress granted a reprieve to not force clients to take distributions from severely depressed ... Read More
Creating a Paycheck for Retirement – A Series
Whatever your retirement dreams, they can still be made a reality. It just depends on how you plan and manage your resources. On any journey it helps to have an idea where you’re going, how you plan to travel and what you want to do when you get there. If this sounds like a vacation, well, it should. Most people invest more time planning a vacation than something like retirement. And if you ... Read More
How to Ride a Bond Bubble and Survive a Secular Bear Market
After the Dow Industrials reached their peak on October 9, 2007, there was a long, painful decline to the trough reached on March 9, 2009. During that time the DJIA lost 54% but was followed by a rally of 70%. Even with this spectacular run up through 2009, the index never reached it peak. While closer now after a good 2010 it, the peak is still a long climb up the mountain. In fact, to break ... Read More
Money Moves to Ring in the New Year
“Sometimes all it takes to change your life massively for the better is a small action and a small success, “ says David Bach, a noted author on money matters. Consolidate Your Accounts: Don’t wait for spring cleaning to roll around. Make it easier on yourself by combining old 401(k) or IRA balances from your various old jobs. This can help cut down on the amount of paper you receive and ... Read More
Take Control of Your Retirement – Discover the Power of Self-Directed IRAs
Did you know that close to $4.2 Trillion in IRA and retirement account assets can be invested in much more than the standard run-of-the-mill investment choices offered at Big Box investment companies? Ever since IRAs were first introduced in the 1970s, investors have been permitted to invest in a range of stock market alternatives including non-publicly traded assets such as real estate, notes ... Read More
