Several years ago, providers of 401(k) plans wanted to make the process of selecting a fund much easier. In doing so, they took a buy-and-hold methodology and added to that an age-based formula to develop new funds for 401(k) plans that would provide easy selection and a lifetime hands-off the steering wheel approach. To select […]
Author: Danny
The Value of Unbiased Information
Any day, you can listen to the financial talking-heads in the media and hear pretty much anything you want to read or hear. It’s even possible to hear viewpoints within the same hour that are diametrically opposed to one another. So what is an investor to do? One could pick a favorite in terms of […]
Market Update – 7/26/2013
If it were possible to forecast the market, then this update would detail the weeks and months ahead of us. Unfortunately, no one can accurately predict what the market will do going forward. However, tools are available to know the market conditions today – therefore what is, is. With current information, we can know if […]
The Pilot Announces, “We have a 66% chance of reaching our destination”!
Those would be chilling words to hear from the pilot as we sit on the tarmac readying for push-back from the gate. Hearing that, I don’t know about you, but I’d want to get off that plane! How does this relate to retirement planning? Read the following to find out. For all the good that […]
Thankfulness
At Christmas, we’re thankful for a Savior being born into this world. At Thanksgiving, we’re thankful for how God has blessed us and provided for us. On July 4th, we’re thankful for a country where we have great freedoms, such as the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to pursue […]
Market Update
We all know that what goes up must come down. In the last several weeks, we’ve noted that the stock market had been stretched and just like a rubber band, when it gets stretched (creating a higher level of risk) it wants to return to a more normal position. Additionally, the Federal Reserve System’s policy […]
Pump-and-Dump
If you are like me, you are receiving several emails each week that highly recommends some unknown penny-stock that is about to take-off and deliver unprecedented returns. If you’re like me, you suspected that something isn’t right with these emails and wondered what is behind some or all of these recommendations. The link below officially […]
Market Update
In my last post, I talked about the stock market being at an all-time high and interest rates in the bond market beginning to rise. Both of these situations are pointing towards higher risk in the stock and bond markets, and evidence of deterioration from high levels is now appearing – see the chart in […]
What Could Possibly Go Wrong From Here?
Primarily, there are two potential problems before us in the investment world: rising interest rates; and stock market highs. Most often, when we think of risk, we think of money invested in the stock market. There are several different kinds of risk, and there is some kind of risk in every investment. Many like to […]
What Happens When You Stretch A Rubber Band?
What happens when you stretch a rubber band? You pick up a rubber band lying in its normal state, and when you stretch it you can feel the resistance and feel that the rubber band wants to return to its normal state. When the stock market gets stretched too far, it wants to return to […]