It’s easy to let the emotions of greed and fear drive our investment decisions. I once heard another financial professional say, “We don’t have people with investment problems, we have investments with people problems!” I do see some truth to this. To be fair though, it’s easy to see why investors repeat bad investment behavior. After all, we are human. I mean, if somehow we...
Read More
With Halloween upon us lets discuss some practical ways to make investing less scary… Unless you have the knowledge, desire and time (and lots of money) stay away from picking individual stocks. There are plenty of more efficient ways to invest in equities. Diversify, diversify, diversify. I know, sounds rhetorical, but believe it or not, American investors do very poorly at this simple concept. Studies...
Read More
As advisors, our job is to make sure the client is prepared for unique retirement situations. One of the biggest issues currently facing many retirees is the growing need for long term care. The statistics for long term care are overwhelming: *At least 70% of people over 65 will need long term care services and support sometime during their lives (2015 Medicare and you report)...
Read More
Most investors have heard of Large Cap stocks and Small Cap stocks but the “sweet spot” with asset allocation may exist in the Mid Cap space. Mid-size companies are often described as the “sweet spot” of investing. They combine some of the best features of large and small companies. Many investors are underexposed to Mid Caps even though they can be more mature businesses but less...
Read More
Wow. What a week! One day the markets are 600 points down, then 600 points up the next. Crazy stuff! As advisors, we tell our clients not to watch this stuff, but it is hard to avoid when we have so much access to what’s going on in the world around us. It’s like rubbernecking. We all are so drawn in by the wreckage, we...
Read More
I know I have been told by some that I have a big ego. I don’t dispute that. I have been a competitor my whole life, in sports when I was younger and now in business. One thing I do believe has helped me along the way is the faith I have in other people. Let me put it this way, my ego is not...
Read More
I have heard many lines like this over my 27 years. It’s true though, you can’t take this stuff with you when you are gone. There is a fine line between you enjoying your money and having your money enjoy you. I believe we are taught early in our working lives the benefits of accumulating money; but how many of us have ever been taught...
Read More
Retirement planning has never been more difficult. The days of working 40 years uninterrupted at a company, getting a pension and a gold watch are gone. Social Security has big concerns and the stock market seems to be more volatile than ever. Here are my top 4 retirement assumptions you can no longer make: Your retirement assets need to last 30 years It is estimated...
Read More
What is the most effective way to give to your favorite charity? What form of gift gives me the very best tax benefits? The answer to these two questions is as close as your local Community Foundation! The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation can receive your gift into an agency fund established by your favorite charity with the Foundation. There were 13 new funds established...
Read More
Most often, we meet new potential clients, that have come to the conclusion that they want to delegate some part of their financial lives to a third party. As I have said many times, it comes down to you wanting to pay someone to manage the time, knowledge and/or desire of your financial life. As much as potential new clients are “looking around” or “shopping...
Read More