358 point drop in the stock markets in a day! Investors are understandably frustrated and worried. Why is this happening? We can begin to explain this in one word: UNCERTAINTY! The stock markets HATE uncertainty. This is understandable because it's...
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The A’s and B’s Of Risk
I'm sure you've heard, "Yes that investment is risky." Yes all investments are risky. However, don't settle for that statement without digging into a few key indicators that show the true risk. Do your A's and B's of risk, the...
The Price You Pay
There are three ways a mutual fund company can charge you, the investor. There is either a front-end sales charge, a surrender fee and there is always a management fee. The easiest to explain is the management fee. This...
What Should You Look For?
There are four factors investors should keep in mind when discussing investments One would be wise to consider risk factors, performance, longevity of portfolio manager and the asset class. In future posts we will be discussing the three factors...
Try Not To Be Pennywise and Pound Foolish
There are fees associated with all forms of investments. The message today is to try not to solely focus on fees. Here's an interesting experiment I did with a client. Suppose you could invest in FUND A that charges...
No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
Last week I had an interesting conversation with a prospective client. He said, "Why do I need a person like you when I can find my own investment and not pay any fees or charges?" I asked him specifically if...
An Easy Way Out
Oftentimes clients tell me, "Bob, I understand it's good to diversify but I'm very busy and I really don't have the time to consider all the nine (9) sectors you've described to me. Isn't there one investment that I can...
What’s The Point?
We've been discussing different STYLES for your investments (Value, Blend and Growth). We've also described the SIZE of your investment choices (Large, Mid and Small caps). WHY? It is to build a solid foundation for diversifying your investments. It...
When Bigger Isn’t Always Better
A second way we can classify stocks and or funds is the market capitalization of an individual company. First we need to define market capitalization. This refers to the total value of all the outstanding shares of a company. We...
Such A Daunting Task
There are over 20,000 mutual funds, not to mention individual stock and bond offerings. So finding your ideal investment is literally a daunting task. Over the rest of our blogs we will intermittently offer some hopefully useful advice on where...