To be blunt, as part of their financial planning process, many more people should establish a longevity strategy. As we discussed in a recent blog Longevity Planning vs. The 4% Retirement Rule, there are many considerations when making these decisions. However, two primary characteristics determine which pre-retirees and retirees will benefit most: INITIAL FINANCIAL CONDITION: Retirees with “modest-sized” nest eggs relative... View Article
Last month, in our blog The 60/40 Investment Debate, we discussed a few key considerations when it comes to longevity risk. As our focus continues in a pursuit to solve this very important issue, we realize longevity planning is often confused with traditional planning for one’s future retirement. For most, today’s retirement planning only focuses on planning “to” retirement rather... View Article
After a turbulent end to 2018 sent stock indices around the globe into bear market territory, equities staged a big recovery in the first quarter of 2019. For the quarter, the S&P 500 index gained 13.65% and was within a few percentage points of its record high. The Russell 2000 small stock index gained even more, rising 14.58%. Large cap... View Article
For decades, many individual and institutional investors have used a 60/40 asset allocation as common strategy for investing in stocks and bonds. This rule of thumb came from the work of two Nobel Prize winning economists, Harry Markowitz (1952) and Bill Sharpe (1964), and their contributions to modern portfolio theory continue to drive today’s innovation in finance. Since the dot.com... View Article
February 20, 2019 10:00 am
Investment fads are nothing new. When selecting strategies for their portfolios, investors are often tempted to seek out the latest and greatest investment opportunities. Over the years, these approaches have sought to capitalize on developments such as the perceived relative strength of particular geographic regions, technological changes in the economy, or the popularity of different natural resources. But long-term investors should... View Article
What did Fourth Quarter 2018 tell us about the future? Not much more than the rest of 2018 did. But in case you missed it, stocks around the globe experienced a significant decline during the quarter, a trend that began in October and accelerated rapidly in December. The downturn was widely attributed to the prospect of continued higher interest rates,... View Article
December 20, 2018 8:00 am
Once again, the media and talking heads are back at it mourning over the recent “crash” in the stock market and how diversification doesn’t work. Many social outlets such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are filled with many of our coworkers, friends and family predicting the next market downturn is just around the corner. They may be very right or... View Article
November 15, 2018 10:00 am
The end of the year presents a unique opportunity to look at your overall situation and take advantage of some personal financial planning. With factors like tax reform, life changes or just working towards your goals, now is an especially important time to review things. Taking what we now know about the new tax law and weaving together all of... View Article
It’s almost Midterm Elections in the US once again. For those who need a brief civics refresher, every two years the full US House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate are up for reelection. While the outcomes of the elections are uncertain, one thing we can count on is that plenty of opinions and prognostications will be floated in... View Article
Many people have made predictions on when volatility would return. We agree that it has been unusually low for a few years and fully expected it to increase at some point. The truth is that we just didn’t know when nor would we ever try to time the market in anticipation of such events. However, there are many data points... View Article
