Earlier this month, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) released their 22nd annual Retirement Confidence Survey. However, the findings of the past several years indicate the report might be more aptly named the lack of confidence survey. Sadly, only 14% of Americans are very confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement.
Are you in charge?
I recently received a phone call from a client asking about our refresher courses for the Snider Investment Method. She took the Snider Method with her husband years ago, but her husband ended up doing all of the trading and record-keeping. He recently became ill and she will now have to take on the responsibility of taking care of their financial house.
Dividends and Why Option Contracts are Adjusted?
When a company declares a special cash dividend, optionsXpress sends emails to investors holding that particular stock saying “underlying option strikes have been reduced accordingly and all open equity and option orders have been cancelled.” These emails cause a fair amount of confusion. I receive many phone calls asking about the situation and what they should do. In order to know what action to take, we must first understand what this message means.
Bad News Bears: Reacting to Bad News
In the Information Age, nearly everyone has access to boundless amounts of information at their fingertips thanks to the Internet. When researching stocks, investors can access statements and news within seconds of opening a web browser. This allows information to reach your hands much quicker than receiving financial statements in the mail or waiting for the newspaper or televised news program in the evening. Since news travels faster, this also allows investors to rapidly react the moment they read good or bad news about a company. If an investor reads news about one of their stocks underperforming earnings, they may want to sell their stock, thinking this news will cause their stock to decrease in price. However, this course of action may not accomplish what the investor is looking to do.
Spring Cleaning
The first day of spring began this week and your financial house could probably use some spring cleaning. Now that we have finally recovered from the holidays, the spring is a great time to evaluate your finances and to check your progress to determine if you are on track to reach your financial goals in 2012. Here are few items to consider reviewing.
“We are going to have a good year!”
Do you own shares of stock in the company you work for? Do they make up your entire 401(k) or just some of your “play money”? I’m amazed at the amount of clients and prospects I meet with that have a significant portion of their portfolio invested in their company’s stock. Familiarity and ‘insider knowledge’ seem to be the top reasons the hold the positions. They quickly forget stock picking is nearly impossible and even those with the greatest level of knowledge get it wrong.
5 minute estate planning checklist
Many of us go through life so consumed with our day to day activities, that we can sometimes forget how important an organized estate will be for our loved ones we leave behind. By taking 5 minutes out of your busy day to review this checklist, you can give yourself the peace of mind that your passing will not end up as a burden to your family and friends. To go a step further, I highly encourage you to have this conversation with your loved ones so that they are prepared, and have the tools necessary in the event of your passing. As always, consulting and coordinating with your legal, financial and tax advisors is a must.
Who will receive your assets upon death?
We’ve all opened an investment account with our broker and been asked to elect a beneficiary. All too often, we make this election without thinking about the issues that can arise when an account is transferred from the account owner to their elected inheritor. Today we will take a look at three items that every account owner should be aware of when designating a beneficiary.
Not All ETFs Are Created Equal
Although exchange traded funds (ETFs) provide an effective and easy way to gain exposure to different asset classes or sectors, not all of them are the same. ETFs that are created to track the same sector, related indexes, and even the same index will vary in performance because of a variety of different factors. As ETFs gain even more popularity and as more varieties such as actively managed ETFs come onto the scene, it is becoming increasingly more important to recognize the differences between these funds.
Avoid the Herd
By nature human beings are drawn to a Herd Mentality. It can be evidenced in new fashion trends, technology, social norms, and even the stock market. Ideas and trends start small with only a few early adopters jumping on board. Then as acceptance grows the new trend starts to become the new norm. It is this inherent need to follow the herd that prevents some people from joining trends too early on.
