Which Is Better for Retirement Income: Insurance or Investments?

Retirement planning experts have long debated the question: Which is better for retirement income: insurance or investments? Wade Pfau weighs in.
Understanding the Tools in Your Retirement Income Toolbox

You should be familiar with all of the tools in your retirement income toolbox. Retirement plans can be built to manage varying risks by strategically combining the following retirement income tools in different ways.
A World of Opportunities: The Benefits of Global Diversification

It’s obvious why a U.S.‑based investor may think it’s better to stay away from international investing, but you don’t get the full story by just looking at the short-term returns of different asset classes in isolation. You need to take a long-term perspective and think about how everything affects your total portfolio.
Are Oil Prices Lower Because of the Stock Market?

Is the volatility of oil a result of the volatility of the markets? Or vice versa? Or neither?
A Brief History of Reverse Mortgages in the U.S.

Reverse mortgages have a relatively short history in the United States, beginning in a bank in Maine in 1961.
How Should an Overvalued Market Affect Your Investment Plan?

Markets don’t move capriciously. They move because something new has happened – new information has arisen. The tricky part is that we don’t know what new information will arise.
What Happens After the Market Drops?

Staying disciplined and avoiding market timing are two of the best investing tips we could give whether the market is up or down, but what happens after the market drops?
Disciplined Investors Don’t Rely on Market Predictions

Authors Note: This article was originally published towards the end of January 2016. To put it mildly, the year got off to a rocky start, and a lot of people were incredibly nervous about what this meant for the markets. While this article specifically addressed the situation at the beginning of 2016, but with a […]
A Vanishing Value Premium?

Value stocks underperformed growth stocks by a material margin in the US last year. However, the magnitude and duration of the recent negative value premium are not unprecedented.
Can You Time the Market?

Over the long term, market returns need to be captured efficiently and consistently. Trying to guess when they occur is an impossibility that leads to the underperformance stated above. How difficult is it to time the market? Let’s look.