“By choosing to place asset allocation at the center of the investment process, investors ground the decision-making framework on the stable foundation of long-term policy actions. Focus on asset allocation relegates market timing and security selection decisions to the background, reducing the degree to which investment results depend on mercurial, unreliable factors. Selecting the asset…
Common Sense Links for the Week
The S&P 500 has been trading right around the 1500 level for most of 2013. The first time it crossed that mark was in March of 2000. It did it again in May of 2007. Just some food for thought on the crazy ride the markets have been on for the past 13 years. Here…
How to Get Started with Asset Allocation
“Once you set your asset allocation, stick to it no matter how greedy or scared you become.” – John Bogle, Founder of The Vanguard Group Your asset allocation is one of the most important decisions you can make when figuring out how to invest your retirement funds. Studies on the subject vary, but many show…
Stock Investing Tips to Combat Fear
“Don’t try to buy bottoms and sell tops, it cannot be done except by liars.” – Bernard Baruch Stock investing is not easy, but don’t try to make it more complicated than it has to be. With stocks at 5-year highs, I thought it would make sense to visit a question I have gotten a…
Common Sense Links for the Week
Each week I round up the best financial news from around the web. Enjoy. The 5 biggest lies on Wall Street (MarketWatch) Are bonds now riskier than stocks? (Money) The third stage of economic grief (MSN Money) Why it’s hard to stay with value stocks (Wall Street Journal) Investors fear another crash with Dow at…
How to Use Compound Interest to Your Advantage
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it…he who doesn’t…pays it.” – Albert Einstein “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett A great way to figure out how to plan ahead with your finances when you…
How Much Do I Need to Retire?
“The art is not in making money, but in keeping it.” – Proverb How much do I need to retire? Should I increase the riskiness of my portfolio to make sure that I have enough money to retire? How much should I be saving as a percentage of my income to have a big enough…
Common Sense Links For The Week
Any NFL players need a financial advisor? (Yahoo!) Are we still in a secular bear market? (Big Picture) How to invest in a low growth world (GMO) The real losers in this economy (Yahoo! Finance) How to protect your stock gains (WSJ) It’s always good to be honest about your mistakes in the investing world…
The Benefits of Using Index Funds
“A very low-cost index is going to beat a majority of the amateur-managed money or professionally-managed money.” – Warren Buffet At this point most people know the advantages that come with investing in index funds. They are tax efficient because of their low turnover. This lowers the transaction costs in the funds making them less…
Less is More: Keep Investing Simple
We all try to overthink things in life. We try to make the easy more complex because we think that if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. When it comes to your investing do not overthink it. Simple is almost always better in the long run. If you try to make your process…
