Category: Investing Tips

5 pieces of sage investing advice

by Dave Conley on November 11, 2022.

It is incredibly difficult for anyone to consistently beat the market and avoid behavioral mistakes. There is no magical set of rules, a formula, or an “Easy Button” that can generate market-beating results. It doesn’t exist and never will. Beware of “gurus” selling a hands-off, rules-based system to investing. If such a system existed, the owner wouldn’t have a need to sell books or subscriptions. Mark Twain said it best when he said "It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled".

Lost or Forgotten?

by Randy Chalmers on November 11, 2022.

I spoke with a client this week who was lucky enough to find money! Nope, he didn’t just spot a $20 stuck in a branch from the wind, he realized he had an old IRA he had lost track of. We rolled his old IRA over to his managed account with us with no penalties...

$100 Left Over?

by Randy Chalmers on November 4, 2022.

We’ve discussed how people think they don’t have enough money to invest, so instead, they spend what they could have saved. But, what about those who are not yet investing, the ones who are on Dave’s Baby Step 2: pay off debt utilizing the debt snowball method? I know a lot of people reading this...

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...

People haven’t been this negative about the economy & investing since 2010.

by Dave Conley on September 30, 2022.

Just like we do not know when we are in a recession (until after it has started), the markets begin their recovery in the midst of bad news. It is critical top your wealth to understand this fact: the markets (stocks & bonds) typically reflect where the economy is headed in 3-6 months from today. If you wait for the news to tell you the markets have recovered, the economy has turned around you probably missed out on a good portion of the initial recovery.

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.

Mid-Term Elections and Market Volatility

by Randy Chalmers on September 16, 2022.

There should be no shock to you when I state that 2022 has been a tumultuous year for the stock market. Seemingly everything that could happen to negatively affect the market, has. The lingering pandemic, inflation, monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve, Russia invading Ukraine, investor panic, and the cyclical mid-term election impact….? Mid-term...