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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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 […]
Read more →Passive generally refers to investing in index mutual funds or exchange traded funds rather than active managed mutual funds. The rivalry between the approaches has raged for years, but evidence is mounting for passive funds. And investors are listening. In 1999, $12 billion of exchange traded funds (ETFs) were issued. Net […]
Read more →These are tough times to be an investor. The stock market’s long-term return of 11-13% fades in relevance as the value of your portfolio declines. Investors begin to doubt their decision to invest in this wild, volatile, crazy, anxiety-creating market. I’m not writing this article to say […]
Read more →1) Bonds can reduce portfolio risk by reducing volatility. Creating a portfolio is like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. Portfolios are built by assembling portions of stocks, bonds, and cash. Portions of real estate and commodities may also be added. Modern portfolio theory taught us […]
Read more →Your vision is of a white sand beach, you’re in a lounge chair sipping an exotic drink, watching the waves slowly roll in as swimmers frolic in the aqua clear waters. Then you wake up. You immediately remember you fell asleep struggling with feelings of euphoria and […]
Read more →The April comeback after a 1st quarter retreat brought some relief to investors. Let’s take a look at index returns in the month of April and where the returns are year-to-date as of April 30, 2008. Remember, Index returns are for illustrative purposes only. Index performance returns do not […]
Read more →When should you think about selling your business? The best answer is, when you become the owner. At the earliest stage, consider an exit strategy. Selling is one way to exit your business. Other exit strategies can be to take the business public in an initial public offering (IPO) or pass it […]
Read more →Profitability is important in valuing your business. But that’s not the only position of value to consider as you think 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 […]
Read more →I’ll continue to refer to the SEC’s website to continue our discussion of fees. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lists how investment advisors get paid. http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/invadvisers.htm Q: How do investment advisers get paid? A: Before you hire any financial professional-whether it’s a stockbroker, a financial planner, or an […]
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