A recent article at the Wall Street Journal’s smartmoney.com explains why mutual funds still charge fees, despite the fact that the transaction costs for stocks, bonds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are getting cheaper. According to an industry spokesperson, customers are paying for a service they are not receiving from other investments, namely fund managers trying [...]
“I’ve found that when the market’s going down and you buy funds wisely, at some point in the future you will be happy. You won’t get there by reading ‘Now is the time to buy.’” Peter Lynch The stock market fall of 2008 sent many into a tailspin: moving money, selling equities, taking losses. Some [...]
It is refreshing to see a light at the end of the stock market tunnel…household wealth rose 3.8 percent during the last three months of 2010, says the Dallas Morning News, (“Stocks Lift Household Wealth as Debt Falls). This was in part due to the rise in stock prices. I recall back in late 2008 and [...]
As I watched the Superbowl commercials almost two weeks ago, I came to the decision that I needed to write about an issue that has bothered me for months now: commercials for retirement planning.
Nearly two years ago, I received a call from a former college friend of mine. This was about the time the market was starting to recover from its drastic downturn in the fall of 2008, leaving many investors shaking their heads, selling off and vowing never to return to the Dow Jones again. During the [...]
Lower interest rates are on the way, and seniors may be none too happy. In another measure to jump-start the economy and encourage capital investment and job creation, the Fed has announced its intent to purchase $600 billion in Treasury bonds. For those who are a little rusty on monetary policy, this move injects cash [...]
Here we go again. Panic in the stock market has set in, yet again, due to every direct or indirect domestic or international incident known to man. Maybe Greece. Maybe Senate-passed financial regulations. Maybe unemployment. Maybe somebody pressed the wrong button on their computer. Or maybe somebody sneezed.
In honor of 2010, the Wall Street Journal provides a year-long guide to fixing your finances. (See article). While I would normally enjoy pontificating over these common sense steps, I have very little to add here…but..oh wait, I do feel the need to put in a word here about retirement savings. The past couple of years have [...]
It’s about time…the good news about 401(k)s has finally surfaced, thanks to an article from the Wall Street Journal. After all the hand-wringing over 401(k) balances that took a tumble last fall, and ideas proposed by some in Congress over what to do about it (mainly nanny-state schemes of allowing the government to manage retirement [...]