Budgeting, Planning, & Family Money

Volatile markets make everyone nervous. Investing in stocks involves risk. Risk means you can lose money. No one likes that. What if you could increase your returns without taking any risk? You can, and with limited effort. Here are some suggestions, gleaned from Allan Roth’s excellent book, How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street: 1. [...]

I can understand why investors want to invest with their conscience. Socially responsible investing can mean choosing companies that are sensitive to issues like the environment, consumers’ rights, human rights, and diversity. It can also mean choosing not to support companies whose business is tied to alcohol, gambling, military activities, or tobacco. If you want [...]

Thomas Jefferson got it partly right when he stated, in the opening lines of the United States Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal.” He should have included “women,” but I digress. Unlike all men and women, all money market funds are not created equal. It’s important that investors understand the differences. Let’s [...]

Few subjects in investing are more misunderstood than asset allocation. Brokers don’t like to talk about it. Instead, they entice their clients with stocks they believe will “take off” or fund managers they think are “hot.” Asset allocation refers to the division of your portfolio between various asset classes, like stocks and bonds. Maybe asset [...]

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) are similar to index funds, except they can be traded like a stock on stock exchanges, and you must buy them through a brokerage firm. ETFs are required to maintain a 99 percent correlation to their designated benchmark. There are many different indexes used as benchmarks, so be sure to understand how [...]

Everyone knows that cash is king, right? Actually, holding cash can be very risky. Let me tell you why. I met with a prospective client who was recently widowed. She told me the stock market terrified her and she wanted to keep everything in cash. Her assets were in a six-month certificate of deposit earning [...]

Many couples believe in togetherness, which can be a good thing. However, there are dangers to investing jointly that should give even the closest duos pause. Remember the best-selling book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, by John Gray? The difference in the way men and women view the world has particular applicability [...]