The practice of basing a client’s fees solely on the assets under the management of their financial advisor instead of their overall net worth is currently being analyzed by the financial services industry in recent news. While some may argue that the use of fees based on assets under management protects clients from overpaying, clients […]
Read ArticleSummer’s Hot Issues
On May 21, 2015, the S&P 500 Index closed at 2,130.82, an all-time closing high for this broad measure of 500 large U.S. companies. In the year since, it has failed to recapture that level. It’s not uncommon for the major indexes to go through periods where gains are elusive or we experience unwanted volatility. […]
Read ArticleFour options for who you should name as trustee
You are thinking seriously about getting your estate planning done. You need to create a trust. You are in a quandary about who you should name as successor trustee. Read on and I will help you think through a few points about who you should name as successor trustee. What Are a Trustee’s Duties? Many […]
Read ArticleGod Owns it All
“Its mine, I worked hard to earn it and it is mine! Don’t tell me how to handle it!” That’s how I used to think. But then, I had an epiphany. Its not mine after all. What I truly believe about the world deeply affects how I relate to the world. That could not be […]
Read ArticleA Trustee’s Fiduciary Duties
I believe the majority of trusts are managed by family members rather than professional trustee or fiduciaries. That is hard to prove since trusts are private documents, but my near 30 years of experience working with trustees makes me believe that is the case. Having family members act as trustee saves money over the cost […]
Read ArticleWhy We Buy What We Buy
Last month, we wrote about stocks and how the collective wisdom of the market values, or prices, companies. Continuing on with that theme, it’s important to understand why we may recommend a particular stock, bond, or any investment for one person, and why that same security may not be appropriate for another. In some ways, […]
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For many months, Wall Street brokers have been complaining about how badly they would be hurt by potential new rules that would require them to at least sometimes work just a little more in the best interest of their clients. Naturally, when the Department of Labor recently announced the new rules, it did so with […]
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You’re intelligent, educated, and working toward success combined with a life balance and happiness. Things seem to be going well for the moment, but there’s an undercurrent of tension in your life with things changing, many future unknown variables, and time-constraints that limit your mental focus to the details and noise of today as opposed […]
Read ArticleCalmer Waters Are Welcome
Probably the simplest reasons anyone invests in stocks are to make money (capital gains), generate income (dividends), or some combination of the two. Of course, that really is putting it in the simplest of terms. Many of you have chosen to follow our recommendations to place a portion of your nest egg in a diversified […]
Read ArticleInvesting: A Matter of Faith
Investing, in the final analysis, is a matter of faith. This, I think, is an important fundamental to understand. I am not writing of “blind faith.” Nor, necessarily, religious faith. It is my conviction that there is no such thing as blind faith. If a person acts blindly, it is not out of faith; it […]
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