What Investors Should Know About IPOs
A successful restaurant rarely opens its doors on the first day with every table filled and every reservation booked for the next six months. Even the best restaurants spend years refining their menu, building a reputation, and proving they deserve a loyal customer base. Investors, however, often expect newly public companies to justify valuations that […]
The Real Cost of a Roth Conversion
Few retirement planning topics generate more debate than Roth conversions. Some view them as one of the most powerful tax planning opportunities available. Others argue they’re frequently oversold, causing retirees to pay taxes years before they need to. Both perspectives have merit, but the problem is that they often focus on the wrong question. Many conversations begin by […]
Should Your Retirement Spending Rise and Fall with the Market?
Most retirement income strategies assume spending will remain relatively stable over time. You retire, determine a sustainable withdrawal amount, and then spend roughly that amount for the rest of your life, perhaps adjusting for inflation along the way. That assumption is so common that it often goes unquestioned. Yet there are retirement income strategies built on a very different idea. Rather than trying […]
The Biggest Inflation Mistake Retirees Make
Stocks are often described as one of the best long-term hedges against inflation. While that statement is generally correct, it can contribute to more retirement planning mistakes than most people realize. The issue is not that stocks fail to outpace inflation over long periods, but that many retirement plans often assume inflation has been addressed simply […]
Why Own Hundreds of Stocks Instead of One Fund?
Most investors are familiar with the logic behind index investing. Rather than trying to pick winning stocks, they buy a fund that owns hundreds of companies and allow diversification to do the work. The approach is simple, inexpensive, and has proven difficult to beat over long periods of time. Direct indexing starts with a seemingly […]
What To Make of Market Volatility
In recent days, the significant market decline has resulted in renewed anxiety for many of you (I know this is blatantly obvious but stick with us). While it may be difficult to remain calm during a substantial market decline, it is important to remember that volatility is a normal part of investing. Additionally, for long-term […]
Lessons For The Next Crisis
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.” I gotta say, we agree with Darth Vadar on this one. When times of crisis arise, people naturally have a range of emotions, including fear, panic, and mistrust. This can lead to behaviors that directly contradict long-term saving strategies. It’s important to take a moment, and remember your […]
Are the Markets’ New Highs the Current Worry?
There are a handful of times a year when certain events precipitate a market drop. So much so, that we feel it is helpful to provide perspective on why investing in the stock market is a great way to help you build your asset base so when you retire you can better generate retirement income […]
What Risks Are Worth Taking
Risk drives everything about your investments, but all risk is not created equal. For most investors (and most of the financial industry) dealing with risk is a lot like making sausage. People want the end result, the investment returns, but they don’t want to deal with the process and the uncertainty that risk implies. They […]
The Market Is Risky These Days, but Hasn’t It Always Been?
Lately people have been focusing on how the market has become more volatile. A lot of talking heads throw this out as if it were a proven fact and use it to justify whatever their call of the day happens to be. I decided to look at the numbers and see if the doomsayers are right.
I decided to look at the numbers and see if the doomsayers are right. And while what they’re saying is technically correct (the best kind of correct), we’re simply seeing a return to long-term averages.
