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 …
Should You Have ETFs in Your Portfolio?
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have been attracting more and more attention in recent months. CNN Money recently published a detailed article titled “ETFs: Why so complicated?” which discussed how ETFs can be used and abused. I strongly agree with the article’s primary point: The key to success with ETFs is careful management. It’s no mystery […]
