When buying a home, you probably know a lot of the potential risks such as the risk your home will go down in value over time or the risk that your home will require a lot of maintenance after purchase. In the same way, knowledgeable investors are aware that investing in the capital markets presents any number of risks – interest-rate risk, company risk, and market risk. Risk is […]
Tuning Out the Noise from the Financial Media
Image used under license from Freestock.com When asked what to watch out for when it comes to investing, clients may expect us to tell them about a specific stock to avoid, or something similar. But our answer is often far different. One of the biggest things you may want to watch out for is actually the financial media. [...]
The Backdoor Roth IRA
Does your high income stop you from contributing to a Roth IRA? It does not necessarily prohibit you from having one. You may be able to create a backdoor Roth IRA and give yourself the potential for a tax-free income stream in retirement. The Backdoor Roth IRA, a move that high earners can make in […]
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 …
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 […]
