In our office, we celebrated privately the passing of the four year anniversary of what would be a 13 year stock market low point.
That’s right, it has already been four years since March 9, 2009 when the S&P 500 Index closed at 676—a level last seen in the summer of 1996. As of the date of this article, the S&P 500 Index has surpassed its all-time high of 1565, which was achieved in October 2007!
When it comes to structuring a tax-efficient investment portfolio, we believe it is important to consider “asset location.” That is—which types of investments should be held in which accounts? Conventional wisdom would reason as follows:
The News & Observer recently interviewed Chip Hymiller, CFP® to ask his opinion about the Fiscal Cliff and what it could mean for investors. Click here to read his response.
The equity markets seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief after European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi, declared that he was willing to do “whatever it takes” to keep the Eurozone together.
One of the most pronounced fears for retirees and pre-retirees is outliving their assets. This has especially been a large concern in light of low investment returns over the last decade. (more…)
Will the European Union ever get it together and decide on a plan to save the Euro? Or will the debt-laden nations (specifically Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy) abandon their attempts at austerity causing further stress on an already weak banking system?
There are a number of indexes that attempt to measure the performance of the financial markets and serve as a gauge of economic activity. The following are descriptions of several of the most common indexes: (more…)
It is easy to understand how mutual fund investors can be confused by the myriad of choices when it comes to mutual fund “share classes.” For many mutual funds, there are more than three share classes for each fund within a mutual fund family. In every case, a different share class represents a different method of calculating the fees in which mutual funds levy on investors. The following are the most common share classes:
This video discusses the purpose and key components of an investment policy statement.
In a prior article, we discussed the importance of maintaining an emergency fund. We offered our insight into how much is appropriate to keep in cash or savings, as well as emergency fund targets. As a result of that article, we were asked the question: “Where can I invest my emergency fund, such that it earns an interest rate that is higher than 0%?”