by Randy Chalmers on February 24, 2023.
I had a meeting with an individual today, and they brought up a great point I’d like to share. Before retiring, he was a teacher and would talk to his students about being fiscally responsible. He would explain to them that the first purchase a college graduate makes is normally a car. Now buying a...
by Dave Conley on February 17, 2023.
Why do the typical investors investment returns trail the investment returns of the investments (mutual funds, ETF's, etc.) they are investing?
by Dave Conley on February 9, 2023.
Investing can often feel like a daunting task, especially for those just starting out. But with the right approach, it can be a rewarding and fulfilling journey. One way to think about investing is to see it as following a treasure map. With every step along the way, you'll encounter challenges and obstacles, but if you keep your eye on the prize, you'll eventually reach the reward at the end.
by Randy Chalmers on January 6, 2023.
529 Changes Previously, if you saved for your child’s college and they did not need the funds you could either transfer them to another student or withdraw the funds incurring a penalty. Under the Secure Act 2.0 (SA 2.0) you can now roll these unused funds into Roth IRAs without income tax or any tax...
by Dave Conley on January 6, 2023.
Predicting the direction of the market is like predicting when you will hit the bulls-eye in a dart game. The majority of the time throughout market history, the markets have been rising. History shows that the chance of your money growing in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds is much like the odds of your next dart hitting any number on the dartboard... except the bulls-eye. If you are going to try and time the market by moving your money in and out, you have to ask yourself how confident are you that you can hit the bullseye when you do.
by Dave Conley on December 23, 2022.
Recessions are painful, no doubt about it. But they are necessary to clean out the excesses of prior growth periods... “You can’t have such a sustained period of growth without an occasional downturn to balance things out.”
by Dave Conley on December 9, 2022.
In simple terms, speculators are trying to out-smart the markets while investors simply participate in the markets. The investment time horizon is also a very important factor as speculation tends to be over the short-term while investing is over the long-term.
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".
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...
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...