Investing with the markets at all-time highs: Mike Switzer & Garet
When the stock market is making all-time highs, the question on many investors’ minds is “Is now a good time to buy stocks?” Our next guest says that that is actually not the right question to ask. Mike Switzer interviews Garet Strange, a certified financial planner with Hobbs Group Advisors in Columbia, SC.
ViewAlternative Investments – Going Mainstream
Recent years have witnessed the mainstreaming of alternative investments for certain accredited investors. In fact, alternative investments are expected to grow $8 trillion between 2022 and 2028.1,2 The impetus behind this projected growth is the belief that alternative investments offer the potential to enhance the risk/reward characteristics of a traditionally diversified portfolio.3 “Alternative investments” is […]
ViewEarnings for All Seasons
While nature offers four seasons, Wall Street offers only one – four times a year. It’s called “earnings season,” and it can move the markets. So, what is earnings season and why is it important? Earnings season is the month of the year that follows each calendar quarter-end month (i.e., January, April, July, and October). […]
ViewWhat It Takes to Become an Accredited Investor
For the average investor, the financial landscape can sometimes feel like a complex maze with limited access to certain investment opportunities. However, within this realm exists a distinct category known as accredited investors. If you’ve ever wondered what sets accredited investors apart, this article provides an overview. Most investors don’t qualify for accredited investor status […]
ViewAre You Ready for Your Portfolio to Make a Difference?
Interest in making an impact with one’s investments has grown in recent years, which means many investors may have an increased interest in environmentally or socially focused investments as well. In fact, impact investments account for $1.164 trillion of managed investments worldwide, with 37% held in North America. Curious to learn more about impact investing? […]
ViewThe Pros and Cons of an NUA Strategy
Employer-issued stocks can be one attractive benefit an employer can offer. But while it has its benefits, it’s natural to wonder what happens if you leave that job. That’s where net unrealized appreciation (NUA) strategies can sometimes be helpful. An understanding of NUA strategies can help you determine what to do with those company stocks […]
ViewUnderstanding Equity Compensation
Employers do what they can to foster a sense of ownership in their employees. After all, if you stand to benefit from a company’s success, you’re more likely to do a great job for them, or so the logic goes. So, when you are hired for a job or promoted within your existing company, you […]
ViewThe Great Debate Continues: Active vs. Passive
Whether it’s sports, music, or politics, life holds any number of “great debates”– debates that never seem to reach a conclusion. In investments, that great debate asks the question, “Active or Passive Investing: Which is Better?” The fascinating aspect of this debate is that equally intelligent people can argue polar opposite positions, leaving the rest […]
ViewGlobal vs. International: What’s the Difference?
With international stock markets comprising about 41.6 percent of the world’s capitalization as of 2022, a broad range of investment opportunities exist outside the borders of the U.S.1 For investors who are looking to diversify their mutual fund portfolio with exposure to companies located outside the U.S., there exist two basic choices: A global mutual […]
ViewA Decision Not Made Is Still a Decision
Whether through inertia or trepidation, investors who put off important investment decisions might consider the admonition offered by motivational speaker Brian Tracy, “Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.” This investment inaction is played out in many ways, often silently, invisibly, and with potential consequences to an individual’s future financial security. Let’s […]
ViewInvesting with Your Heart
Some individuals believe that return on investment shouldn’t be the only criterion for how they invest their money. For them, the social impact of investing is just as important – perhaps more important. The history of socially responsible investing stretches as far back as the mid-18th century, but its more modern form began taking shape […]
ViewGetting a Head Start on College Savings
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the cost of raising a child to the age of 17 for a middle-income family will be about $285,000. That’s approaching the median value of a new home in the U.S.1,2 If you want to add the cost of education to that number, you can expect to be paying […]
ViewAll Muni Bonds Are Not Created Equal
The city of Detroit emerged from bankruptcy in 2014. Still, its previous inability to pay investors left some questioning their long-held assumption about the relative safety of municipal bonds. Without question, in the wake of Detroit’s troubles, gaining a better understanding of municipal bonds makes more sense than ever.1 At their most basic level, there […]
ViewRebalancing Your Portfolio
Everyone loves a winner. If an investment is successful, most people naturally want to stick with it. But is that the best approach? It may sound counterintuitive, but it may be possible to have too much of a good thing. Over time, the performance of different investments can shift a portfolio’s intent – and its […]
ViewEstimating the Cost of College
It doesn’t take a degree in finance to see that the cost of college continues to rise. In its 2021 report, the College Board showed that in-state tuition and fees at public four-year institutions increased by 9% in inflation-adjusted dollars between the 2011-12 and 2021-22 school years.1 For many families, the lion’s share of education […]
ViewInvestment Challenges of the Affluent Investor
High net worth investors face investment challenges that some would consider unique to their financial status. The fundamental tenets of investing apply equally to them as with any other investor, but the affluent investor needs to be mindful of issues that typically arise only from substantial wealth. Let’s examine a few of these. Being Too […]
ViewPullbacks, Corrections, and Bear Markets
When the market drops, some investors lose perspective that downtrends and uptrends are part of the investing cycle. When stock prices break lower, it’s a good time to review common terms that are used to describe the market’s downward momentum. Pullbacks. A pullback represents the mildest form of a selloff in the markets. You might […]
ViewMutual Funds vs. ETFs
The growth of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has been explosive. In 2006, there were less than 1,000; by 2023, there were nearly 10,000 investing in a wide range of stocks, bonds, and other securities and instruments.1 At first glance, ETFs have a lot in common with mutual funds. Both offer shares in a pool of investments […]
ViewInflation & Your Money
“If the current annual inflation rate is 3 percent, why do my bills seem like they’re 10 percent higher than last year?”1 Many of us ask ourselves that question, and it illustrates the importance of understanding how inflation is reported and how it can affect investments. What Is Inflation? Inflation is defined as an upward […]
ViewA Look at Diversification
Ancient Chinese merchants were said to have developed a unique way to manage their risk. They would divide their shipments among several different vessels. That way, if one ship were to sink or be attacked by pirates, the rest stood a good chance of getting through. Thus, the majority of the shipment could be saved. […]
ViewThe Investment Risk No One’s Ever Heard Of
Knowledgeable investors are aware that investing in the capital markets presents any number of risks, including interest rate risk, company risk, and market risk. Risk is an inseparable companion to the potential for long-term growth. Some of the investment risks we face can be mitigated through diversification.1 As an investor, you face another, lesser-known risk […]
ViewAsset Allocation
If you live in or have visited a big city, you’ve probably run into street vendors – people who sell everything from hot dogs to umbrellas – on the streets and sidewalks. Many of these entrepreneurs sell completely unrelated products, such as coffee and ice cream. At first glance, this approach seems a bit odd, […]
ViewThe Business Cycle
What has upswings and downturns, troughs, peaks, and plateaus? Though such terms could easily describe a roller coaster ride, they are also commonly used to describe the business cycle. The business cycle – also known as the economic cycle – refers to fluctuations in economic activity over several months or years. Tracking the cycle helps […]
ViewRisk Perspective
Risk is a factor in any investment decision that you make. Your tolerance for risk is something that you will want to consider when you make decisions alongside your trusted financial professional. Your risk tolerance is balanced against your time horizon, meaning the time between now and when you anticipate needing your money. But is […]
ViewThe Utility of Sector Investing
There is a growing popularity among individuals to broaden their investment strategy beyond conventional allocations and investment styles. Some see sector investing as a way to seek new opportunities for enhanced portfolio performance.1 Because of its narrow focus, a sector investing strategy tends to be more volatile than an investment strategy that is diversified across […]
ViewDo Our Biases Affect Our Financial Choices?
Investors are routinely warned about allowing their emotions to influence their decisions. However, they are not often cautioned about their preconceptions and biases that may color their financial choices. In a battle between facts & biases, our biases may win. If we acknowledge this tendency, we may be able to avoid some unexamined choices when […]
ViewInflation and the Real Rate of Return
The real rate of return is an important personal finance concept to understand. It’s the rate of return on your investments after inflation. The real rate of return indicates whether you are gaining or losing purchasing power with your money. So if inflation checks in at a rate of 6%, does that mean any investment […]
ViewTypes of Stock Market Analysis
There is no shortage of analysis for anyone interested in investing. A search for the term “stock market analysis” turned up over one billion results on Google and well over two billion on Yahoo.1 The majority of stock market analysis can be lumped into three broad groups: fundamental, technical, and sentimental. Here’s a close look […]
ViewYour Shifting Risk Tolerance
When you created your investment strategy, your asset allocation should have reflected your goals, time horizon, and tolerance for risk. But over time, any of those three factors may have changed, and your portfolio may now need adjustments to reflect your new investing priorities. It’s important to remember that asset allocation is an approach to […]
ViewA Primer on Dividends
When looking for income-generating investments, some investors turn to dividend-yielding stocks. When a company makes a profit, that money can be put to two uses: Dividend Ratios Investors track dividend-yielding stocks by examining a pair of ratios.1 Dividend per share measures how much cash an investor is scheduled to receive for each share of dividend-yielding stock. […]
ViewThe Anatomy of an Index
Did you know that an estimated $13.5 trillion in assets are indexed or benchmarked to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index, including $5.4 trillion in index assets?1,2 The S&P 500 is ubiquitous – we see it on the news, read about it in the newspapers, and very likely, see some of our own investments’ […]
ViewThe Sequence of Returns
What exactly is the “sequence of returns”? The phrase describes the yearly variation in an investment portfolio’s rate of return. But what kind of impact do these deviations from the average return have on a portfolio’s final value? Let’s take a closer look at a few different investment scenarios. The first few scenarios focus on how […]
ViewDiversification, Patience, and Consistency
Regardless of how the markets may perform, consider making the following part of your investment philosophy: Diversification. The saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” has some application to investing. Over time, certain asset classes may perform better than others. If your assets are mostly held in one kind of investment, you could find […]
ViewWhy Regular Rebalancing Makes Sense
Everyone loves a winner. If an investment is successful, most people naturally want to stick with it. But is that the best approach? It may sound counterintuitive, but it may be possible to have too much of a good thing. Over time, the performance of different investments can shift a portfolio’s intent – and its risk […]
ViewSeparating the Signal From the Noise
What kind of role can a financial professional play for an investor? The answer: an important one. While the value of such a relationship is hard to quantify, the intangible benefits may be long-lasting. There are certain investors who turn to a financial professional with one goal in mind: the “alpha” objective of beating the […]
ViewHow Financial Professionals Are Compensated
The fees that investors pay to financial professionals for their advice and services come in two basic forms: transaction fees and ongoing fees. While professionals may differ in what fees they charge, they are required to fully disclose them. Transaction Fees These fees are generally one-time fees assessed at the time a transaction is made. […]
ViewFour Really Good Reasons to Invest
Forty-two percent of Americans do not own any stocks or stock-related investments, according to a recent Gallup poll.1 Individuals may cite different reasons for not investing, but with important long-term financial goals, such as retirement, in the balance, the reasons may not be good enough. Why Invest? Make Money on Your Money You might not […]
ViewHow the Federal Reserve Works
Have you ever taken a close look at paper money? Each U.S. bill has the words “Federal Reserve Note” imprinted across the top. But many individuals may not know why the bill is issued by the Federal Reserve and what role the Federal Reserve plays in the economy. Here’s an inside look. The Federal Reserve, […]
ViewEmotional vs. Strategic Decisions
Information vs. instinct. When it comes to investing, many people believe they have a “knack” for choosing good investments. But what exactly is that “knack” based on? The fact is, the choices we make with our assets can be strongly influenced by factors, many of them emotional, that we may not even be aware of. Investing […]
ViewRequired Reading: The Economic Report of the President
In January, the White House released its 508-page book, “Economic Report of the President (2023).” If you haven’t yet made time to peruse this weighty tome, don’t beat yourself up. Most people don’t take the time to read the report—still others don’t even know it exists.1 What is the “Economic Report of the President,” and […]
ViewInvesting for Impact
Many investors are looking to build a portfolio that reflects their socially responsible values while giving them the potential for solid returns. That’s where SRI Investing, Impact Investing, and ESG Investing may play a role. In the past, some investors regarded these investment strategies as too restrictive. But over time, improved evaluative data and competitive […]
ViewThe ABCs of Zero Coupon Bonds
At first blush, the idea of a bond that doesn’t pay interest seems oxymoronic. After all, isn’t a bond a debt instrument that pays periodic interest and repays the principal at maturity?1 Zero coupon bonds are indeed debt instruments, but are issued at a discount to their face value, make no interest payments, and pay […]
ViewBest-Performing Asset Classes
According to Yale University’s Crash Confidence Index, only about 24% of investors are confident the stock market will not crash sometime during the next six months.1 If fear leads investors to avoid the entire investment class, they may limit their potential returns. For example, for most of the 10-year period between 2012 and 2022, stocks […]
ViewA Taxing Story: Capital Gains and Losses
Chris Rock once remarked, “You don’t pay taxes – they take taxes.” That applies not only to income but also to capital gains. Capital gains result when an individual sells an investment for an amount greater than their purchase price. Capital gains are categorized as short-term gains (a gain realized on an asset held one […]
ViewDon’t Be Your Own Worst Enemy
One of the most well-known investors of the 20th Century, Benjamin Graham, said that “the investor’s chief problem—and even his worst enemy—is likely to be himself.” What Graham understood—and modern research is catching up to—is the idea that we all have emotions and biases that affect our decision-making. The innate wiring built to survive pre-modern […]
ViewTIPS for Inflation
In February 2018, Jerome Powell was appointed as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He became the 16th chair to take over the helm of the world’s most influential central bank. Among other duties, he and the Fed governors are tasked with adjusting short-term interest rates to help control inflation […]
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