Archive for the Invest Category

A couple of times per year I publish this benchmark return report for investment portfolios.  This is useful for those who use a buy and hold approach to holding their investments, in various common investment allocations of stocks and bonds. I provide this so that you can compare your investment returns to what the market was… Read More »

Question: I lost my job several months ago, and have exhausted my savings. However, I have some money in a 401(k) Plan from an old employer. I need to get to some of it to pay my rent, but I don’t want to pay tax on the entire amount in the Plan. What is the… Read More »

The stock market is up this year 16.4%, so there might be some rationale for reducing one’s portfolio exposure to stocks, contends Daniel Roe of Budros, Ruhlin and Roe the largest financial planning firm in my hometown Columbus Ohio, as reported in the Wall Street Journal today’s article “As stocks head higher so do risks.”… Read More »

People are aware of inflation, since it is talked about all the time on the news and they see gasoline prices increasing astronomically and erratically. You may have heard someone talk about loss of purchasing power, but what does that mean? As a quick review, when you invest or save money, and you pull it out… Read More »

The price of gold is climbing again to about $1,800 per ounce, close to its all time high of $1,895 on 9/6/11, so many people are thinking about selling their old gold jewelry they have lying around. If you are interested in selling yours, here are a few tips to help you get the most for… Read More »

You have some money to invest, and you are not sure where to turn?  I get asked all the time, from people that have some money to invest and they don’t know where to turn.  If they have several hundred thousand dollars or more, they can command more attention and higher levels of service, but… Read More »

My article entitled The Asset Allocation Style of Investing, highlighted this method of investing made popular from the study by Garry P. Brinson, Brian D. Singer, and Gilbert L. Beebower that found that over 91% of long-term portfolio performance is derived from the decisions made regarding asset allocation, and not market timing or security selection. In… Read More »

Is the rumor true, is the real estate market rebounding? There are early indications that after years of depreciating values, prices in some areas are holding and are trickling up a bit. New homes being built are also on the incline. The inventories of houses for sale are the lowest in several years, increasing the sales rates… Read More »

Interest rates continue to plummet for borrowers, with mortgage rates dropping below 4% for 30 year fixed, and less than 3% for shorter term mortgages like 15 year plans. Conversely investors continue to see interest rates drop for their investments and savings accounts. For conservative investors and those wanting to put emergency savings in a… Read More »

The much followed initial public offering (IPO) of Facebook failed to be a runaway opening day success, by the way I warned you to be very cautious about IPOs like this on my February 1 2012 post. The first day of trading Friday May 18th, shares opened up at $42.50 about 11% higher than the… Read More »