Category: Retirement

The “secret” to investing success is spelled TIME

by Dave Conley on October 21, 2022.

The hamster wheel literally describes the concept of lots of activity but making no progress. In times of crisis, either real or imagined we are encouraged to do something. If your house is on fire or if you witness a car accident you must do something and quick. Why is it that doing nothing when it comes to our investments is so difficult. When clients ask "what are you doing..." sometimes the better question is "is there anything that needs to be done" related to our investments? Are you OK with doing nothing when nothing needed to be done?

I “herd” it through the grapevine…

by Dave Conley on October 14, 2022.

Ralph and Betty recently bought a new Ford Explorer SUV for $40,000, after carefully research before the purchase. Surprisingly, over the next few months they began to receive offers to buy the vehicle from them at smaller and smaller amounts of money. As far as they knew the vehicle was still in great shape, it had a few thousand miles on it, a ding or two but apart from that the engine still purred and ran like it did when they bought it. Still, Ralph and Betty considered selling the Ford Explorer for half of what they paid for it because they worried that something might be wrong. Should they have sold the vehicle?

Which Path is Correct?

by Randy Chalmers on October 14, 2022.

I’ve been asked many times “if Dave Ramsey says to fund a Roth IRA, why would I ever choose a traditional IRA”? Well, much like any advice, there is no absolute in reference to what will work best for everyone in every situation.    Let’s examine the main characteristics of both types of IRAs. As...

The Retirement Crisis

by Randy Chalmers on October 7, 2022.

Have you been fearing that you will be living in poverty in your golden years because news articles and studies have long stated that Americans do not know how to save or don’t save enough? In 2002 the Economic Policy Institute study reported that 40% of households then aged 47-64 would retire on less than...

Why are we surprised when things change?

by Dave Conley on October 7, 2022.

We so desperately try to nail down certainty in every area of our life but this pesky thing known as reality gets in our way. The realities of life refuse to conform to our desire for certainty. We make plans for our lives and then reality "happens" and throws a monkey wrench into our plans.

Dreams versus Plans

by Randy Chalmers on September 23, 2022.

Have you ever heard someone say something to the effect of “a dream is only a dream until you write it down, then it becomes a goal”? This concept examines how we view seemingly impossible things, like getting our “dream” job, living in the “dream” town, climbing Mount Everest, or completing a marathon. You wouldn’t...

What are you afraid of ?

by Dave Conley on September 23, 2022.

Most of us make the same mistake with our money over and over: We buy high (when the economy and markets are up) out of greed and sell low (when the economy and markets are down) out of fear, despite knowing on an intellectual level that it is a very bad idea.

Should I get out of the market until…

by Dave Conley on September 16, 2022.

Each and every month we get a question that is similar to the statement above. The questions are sincere but based on the assumption that one can invest in the markets painlessly. What I mean by that is I can get marketlike returns when the market is going up, then jump out of the market...

Is it possible to invest your money AND protect your purchasing power?

by Dave Conley on September 9, 2022.

Real long term financial risk is not loss of principal but erosion of purchasing power. To maintain the purchasing power of $100 from 1926 to 2022 you would need $1,674. $100 invested in the S&P 500 in 1926 would be worth $1,066,955 in 2022. These example above illustrates the REALLY long term erosion of purchasing...

I Don’t Want to Lose Money! What Does that Mean?

by Dave Conley on September 1, 2022.

$10,000 is still $10,000 = Capital Preservation $10,000 still buys what it did = Purchasing Power Preservation The distinction is vital to your long-term wealth! Not a month goes by that we do not have a call where someone inquires about investing and includes the phrase, “but I don’t want to lose my money“. The...