A 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 ArticleThe Morgan Report 2016 Q1 Review: In Tension or Intention?
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 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 […]
Read ArticleHow to Lose at Investing: Follow Your Gut
Financial Planning magazine reported that its “perceived risk-tolerance level” barometer had dropped 7 points from January to 27.9 in February — the lowest level since its inception. This barometer seeks to measure clients’ (or self-directed investors’) appetite for risk. In looking at the readings over the last 12 months, it’s very easy to understand why […]
Read ArticleWhy Should I Care About Sectors?
The term “sectors” is often thrown around, but what exactly does it mean and why should you care? In short, the economy and financial markets can be broken down into segments called sectors, which are simply large groupings of industries in similar businesses. Each sector can be further broken down into industry groups. For example, […]
Read ArticleYour Feelings About the Market are Probably Wrong
According to Thomson Reuters Lipper, investors pulled over $60 billion from mutual funds in January, the worst month of outflows we’ve seen in years. Mutual fund outflows are one way to get an idea of what retail investors are doing. Whether they are self-directing or calling up their advisors and demanding their plan be thrown […]
Read ArticleAre You a Grocery Store Trader?
Have you ever gone into the grocery store on a whim when you had some extra time? No list in hand, just time to spend in the store. You wander aisle by aisle, picking up a few things that catch your eye. You grab a few staples. Maybe a few treats you haven’t had in […]
Read ArticleFee Transparency and How Advisor Awards Can Fool You
I recently saw a list of the Top 40 advisors under 40 years old published in the brokerage magazine On Wall Street. Three firms produced 34 of those included on the list: Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Care to take a guess on what criteria they were ranked? On “production,” which is a friendlier […]
Read ArticleRate of Return – Not A Plan
Goals without a plan are really just hopes! Understanding what a plan is, and what a plan is not, can be quite the process. I’ll tackle one aspect of this today by sharing a phrase I typically hear when the topic of investing comes up in social gatherings. “With the amount of money I’ve saved, […]
Read ArticleRun Your Domestic Staff like Your Business
Often times when clients talk asset protection with their CFP® professional, they want to discuss how to avoid poor investment choices and how to save their profits from taxation to create a strong foundation of assets that protect them and their lifestyle. But asset protection is more than that; it’s making strong, smart decisions that […]
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