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Mutual funds, for all their contributions to wealth creation, have inherent drawbacks. Internal expenses are relatively large, and tax complications arise from the Tax Code’s treatment of dividends and capital gains within mutual funds. Trades are performed only after regular Stock Exchange hours, and all trades are to and from the Fund Company itself. Recognizing […]

Last week, we began a discussion of possible reactions to recent substantial increases in interest rates. The Federal Reserve (FED) has been pumping up rates in a quest to stifle rampant inflation, which (ironically) was not caused by low-interest rates. Any time substantial interest rate changes occur, there will be economic winners and losers, depending […]

For many years, Americans have experienced an unprecedentedly low-interest rate environment. Winners during this period included nearly all borrowers, as mortgages and other financing instruments were essentially on sale. Interest rate increases imposed by the Federal Reserve (FED) over the past year have been “in your face,” both numerous and substantial. Borrowers with variable-rate loans, […]

Financial advisors get up every morning dreading reading the day’s financial headlines. If any significant portion of financial headlines were to actually come true, we would not have a country, much less an investment portfolio that actually rewards investors. Some days we just ignore headlines, and other times we get riled up by the attention-seeking […]

Portfolio Diversification is rarely disputed as fundamental to investing success. Problematic, however, is finalizing a definition of the term “Diversify.” To many, the answer lies in the number of individual stocks held in an investor’s portfolio. Not only is there disagreement as to “that number,” but in practice, the very premise is debatable. Prominent among […]

Diversified portfolios are the 8th wonder of the modern world. OK, maybe not that spectacular, but extremely important to millions of investors. In a world where individuals are increasingly responsible for their own financial futures, risk (defined as variability of returns) must be mitigated, while allowing (and encouraging) growth in the overall portfolio. A tall […]

Last week, we discussed the value of accepting Personal Responsibility for our own financial futures, including starting and/or contributing to an Individual Retirement Account, or IRA. Our primary focus was on potential 2022 tax savings. Our suggestion was to open (or contribute to) a Traditional IRA, in which all contributions are deductible for qualified Account […]

Where were you on the Eve of the Millennium? December 31, 1999, was long ago, but like many uber-significant events, it remains unforgettable for those of us who were old enough to appreciate the moment, with the many associated “Y2K” fears. What would happen? Would our cars and planes work? Would the banks reopen? Would […]

Sometimes, at this time of year, I enjoy looking at my past Congressional Christmas Wish Lists. This year, I thought it might be particularly interesting, as my last lookback was in 2018, the halfway point of the Trump Administration. We are now at that point in the Biden Administration. In 2018, much of my list […]