The White House’s report on conflicting financial advice estimates that there is a staggering $1.7 trillion invested in products that generate conflicts of interest for advisors—meaning products that advisors earn a commission for selling to clients—leading to a loss of 12% in a retirement account’s value over 30 years. To combat this, the Department of…
CNBC recently published a story on the growing popularity of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. According to the article, 81% of advisors surveyed said they used or recommended ETFs to their clients in 2015. We have been advocating ETFs as a secure, flexible investment for our clients since the days when they weren’t as popular. Here’s…
The world had its eyes on the United Kingdom on June 23, as returns from their national referendum on whether to withdraw from the European Union began to roll in. The ultimate victory of the “leave” camp sent shock waves through political and financial sectors, as investors saw the British pound crash to a 30-year…
In his song “Real Friends” musician Kanye West raps, “Real friends. It’s not many of us. We smile at each other. But how many honest? Trust issues.” West wonders whether those around him are there because they really have his best interests at heart, or if they only care about him for his money. Given…
Our habits play a crucial role in our ability to meet our goals and become who we want to be. Bad habits — whether it’s biting our nails, overeating, smoking or something else — create roadblocks on the path to becoming our best selves. And it’s no different when it comes to our finances. Bad…
We live in a fascinating time. The biggest wealth transfer in history is beginning, as Millennials will soon become the wealth bearing demographic in this county. Not surprisingly, as we pointed out in a recent blog post, personal finance is a huge issue for many Millennials. But where can a Millennial turn for advice? Goals,…
This article was originally published on investopedia.com According to many studies, our different personality traits and preferences, along with a range of emotional and mental behavioral biases, have a strong impact on the way we invest. This is commonly referred to as behavioral finance. As part of a two-part series on Behavioral Finance, we will…
This article was originally published on NerdWallet.com Trying to pick individual stocks is a losing game, and this doesn’t just apply to individual investors. It’s also true for professionally run, actively managed mutual funds. Actively managed funds are tasked with picking a collection of stocks and bonds that will outperform market indices, or benchmarks, such as…
What a great time of the year. Cherry blossoms are out, baseball opening day is right around the corner, and the best single elimination tournament in sports is on its way. That’s right, it’s March Madness time. For those of you unfamiliar, March Madness, as it’s commonly called, is a 64-team college basketball single elimination…
This article was originally published on NerdWallet.com Picking a stock that goes up 100% in a year is exhilarating. But there’s a problem with this method of investing. Like gambling in Vegas, it may be fun and even rewarding in the short term. Yet in the end, just as the house always wins, picking stocks is…