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!
Even in the face of what many consider sizable headwinds, the markets continued the advance which began in 2009.
How is it even possible for both the stock and bond markets to advance so meaningfully in the face of so much adversity and doom and gloom? Consider the following:
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 following question was posed to over 1,000 U.S. adults in a recent Gallup poll:
How much control – your ability to influence or impact – do you feel you have over your efforts to build and maintain your retirement savings in the current environment?
We are often asked about our outlook for the economy and the financial markets from clients, journalist and peers. We generally believe that the investment markets are efficient and accurately reflect all of the information currently available. However, it is important to have an idea of where the economy may be headed. Not necessarily from the standpoint of “timing” the investment markets, but rather from a standpoint of managing return expectations and developing a framework for rebalancing and positioning portfolios.
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:
Parents with special needs children can face a unique set of financial challenges. However, like all financial challenges, it is important to take measures early to financially prepare for the future. Here are a number of financial planning ideas and considerations for those parents who have special needs children: (more…)
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%?”