Deciding when to take social security is a decision that will last retirees’ lifetimes. Many people don’t realize the implications of taking social security at different ages. It’s not as straight forward a decision as one might think. Social security payments last a lifetime, and that […]
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WHAT IS AN ETF? ETFs (exchange-traded funds) have existed for 20 years yet many people still are not familiar with them which is why I get asked the “What is an ETF?” question yet. Let me try to offer some clarity. Before I get started I would […]
Read more →Recently a client asked me to recommend some websites for investment research. I do a lot of investment research so I have a slew of resources but I wanted to provide my client with easy-to-use, free research websites. The following three free websites provide objective information to […]
Read more →For business owners and executives (and investors), being able to understand the economy’s “health” and direction can help guide business and investment decisions. Economic indicators aren’t perfect crystal balls, but they’re certainly better than winging it. At Golden Hills Financial Group, we use a variety of economic […]
Read more →Profitability is important in valuing a business. But that’s not the only position of value to consider when thinking about selling. You may hear that if your company isn’t profitable you have nothing to sell. Not always true. In 1993 I sold a management training firm that […]
Read more →Gary Shilling, economist and author of “The Age of Deleveraging: Investment Strategies for a Decade of Slow Growth and Deflation”, forecasts a market crash in 2013. In a January, 2013 Forbes article, Shilling says we could see an S&P 500 decline to 800 in 2013. (S&P 500 […]
Read more →A person saving for retirement who chooses low-cost investments instead of higher-cost ones could have a standard of living throughout retirement that’s more than 20 percent higher according to William Sharpe, professor emeritus of finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business. During this article, he talks about […]
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In mid-2012 the National Small Business Association (NSBA) released a survey of small business owners’ ability to find reasonable, affordable capital. This survey is really about small business as 71% of the respondents had between 0-19 full-time personnel. Have small business owners really had to struggle to […]
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It’s not new news that interest rates are at historic lows. As I write this post the 10-year Treasury rates are 1.7%. That means the government is paying bondholders $17 per year for each $1,000 it borrows. At the end of 10 years, the government will return […]
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It sure would be pleasant to start writing uplifting market reviews. Alas, the 3rd quarter of 2011 maintained its headline driven downhill momentum. The attached newsletter includes quarterly returns of major indices, a brief look at the European Union’s rapid-response challenge, an article that describes correlation, and a possible explanation for the origination […]
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