As you may have heard, Equifax, which is a credit reporting agency, suffered a data breach that compromised the personal and financial data of more than 143 million Americans.1 The information accessed included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. While this data breach is the largest in recent memory, these types of occurrences have become all too common and put us all at increased risk of identify theft. Unfortunately, the risks of identity theft extend beyond to just identity thieves taking out loans in your name. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect yourself. Continue Reading …
Do you know the difference between a fee-based advisor and an independent, fee-only advisor?
This is a very important question as how your advisor is compensated may create conflicts of interest, which can lead to significant financial consequences for you and your family. As brokers and insurance agents have changed their job titles in recent years to “advisors” and have replaced commissions with fees as their primary method of compensation, such conflicts of interests are not as easy to see today but are still there if you know where to look. Such conflicts are also not hard to find if you know what questions to ask. Continue Reading …
Bundle Up? Not When It Comes To Financial Services
For many people subscribing to satellite services or cable television over the last couple of decades, the business model has been “bundling services” like television, Internet and phone together for a single rate. However, in this system, many customers are paying for TV channels that they never watch or for a landline that they rarely use. With the increased popularity of “cutting the cord” to cable and satellite TV in order to watch TV series and films on Over-The-Top (OTT) content devices, there have been calls, even from Washington, for a “pay for what you watch” or “a la carte” approach. Continue Reading …
Annuities: Are They a Good Option in Turbulent Times?
As Americans get older and the stock market goes through a periodic decline, the temptation to decrease risk over fears of running out of money makes people turn to annuities, according to the recent New York Times article entitled “Annuities as an Alternative to Shaky Markets? Not So Fast.” Single Premium Immediate Annuities (SPIA) are an especially enticing option as Americans near retirement, because by paying an upfront premium, persons can draw a payment periodically for the rest of their lives. Continue Reading …
Objective Investment Advice You Can Use
As you probably saw last week, global stock markets dropped sharply in value. There are a number of factors contributing to these recent declines including expectations of higher interest rates, falling oil prices and an economic slowdown in China.
As our focus is on the long-term, we welcome periods of sharp market declines as falling prices often produce for our clients buying opportunities with less risk. Also, periods of sharp market declines are historically normal and to be expected when investing in the stock market. Continue Reading …
Finding Your Financial Advocate
When it comes to getting objective advice for your financial well-being, do you know the difference between being a customer and being a client? Understanding the difference between the two can make all the difference in the world, especially for financial services. A customer relationship is driven by a transaction taking place, such as buying […]
What should I do with my stock options?
If you’re holding stock options from your employer, our Employee Stock Options Strategy will help you answer these questions: Should I exercise my options now or risk holding out for a higher price in the future? What are the tax consequences of exercising my options? How do my company stock options impact my overall portfolio? […]
Should You Follow Market Forecasters?
USA Today recently published an interesting article titled “How bad are Wall Street forecasts? Really bad.” The article reviews why you are probably better off ignoring financial advisors who try to predict the market. Not only is their combined track record horrible over time, you may get better results by simply tossing a coin – […]
The Federal Reserve’s Impact on Your Portfolio
Changes in interest rates have a disproportionate effect on your portfolio. Lower interest rates can help boost corporate earnings, and as earnings increase, market prices often do too. This is a key reason why stocks frequently increase in value as interest rates fall. Another reason is that lower interest rates drive investors to seek higher […]
Slow and Steady Wins the Race Investing
Research released last month is turning conventional investing wisdom on its head. At a top investment conference, researchers demonstrated that a number of widely held beliefs about stocks simply have not held up over time. Here’s what they found: Low volatility stocks outperform volatile ones in the long run: Looking at forty years of data, […]
