So, here I was, 41 years old and now already retired from my financial planning practice of 16 years. Well, not technically “retired” yet, I don’t think that’ll ever happen. I’m not sure what the word even means.
How the Economy Directly Affects Your Finances
Sure, the overall economy affects our daily lives to a certain extent. But, how concerned should we be about the economy, and what can we do about it anyway? Well, it doesn’t benefit most people to stay up at night, sweating the details of the next morning’s jobs report or how the yen will behave [...]
Two Ways To Maximize Your Roth IRA Returns
Your Roth IRA plays an invaluable role in your investment portfolio because, if you play your cards right, it’s a nice, big pool of tax-free retirement savings. And tax-free is hard to beat, right?
Why Your Small Business Should Offer a 401K
A recent survey by the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index showed that about 50 percent of small business owners are concerned that they wonít have a sufficient amount of money in savings to retire. If these owners are worried, what about their employees? They need a comfortable nest egg as well. Helping your employees build [...]
Interactive Brokers Review
In the 90′s and 00′s, the brokerage business was dominated by one trend: the rise of the online discount brokerage. Prior to 1995, most trades were placed by calling your stock broker who charged a massive commission. The customers expected these brokers to provide trading advice, and buy/sell recommendations. Such firms were later known as [...]
Charles Schwab Review
I signed up with Charles Schwab in 2008 for my first investment account outside of an employer sponsored 401(k). I have been thrilled with the experience and only plan to expand my relationship with Schwab in the future. Charles Schwab was founded in 1971 by its namesake chairman, Charles R. Schwab. The full service investment [...]
Investing – Sometimes It Pays To Think Small
The very word ‘investing’ can throw the most savvy person into a cold sweat, with the thought of complex and time consuming funds, stock market purchases and complex financial products often first springing to mind. Certainly there has long been a certain mystique attached to investing – the idea that it’s an activity best left [...]
Is Bank Of America Screwed?
On Friday, July 15th, Bank of America (Ticker: BAC) dipped to $9.88, and the only major bank in the single digits. If they wanted to raise their share price, all they’d have to do is conduct a reverse stock split like Citibank to trick investors into thinking it’s worth more than it is. Out of [...]
Firstrade Review
Firstrade Securities is a privately owned discount stock brokerage. I signed up with Firstrade a few years ago because I got tired of paying high fees at other discount brokerages. I used TD Ameritrade (see TD Ameritrade review) and another local stock broker previously. They both charged around $50 for every no-load mutual fund transaction. [...]
The Real Reason You Should Be Bullish On Stocks
People like to think of free markets as being just that – free from external influence. I’m not approaching this as a hysterical conspiracy theorist predicting the demise of all fiat currencies and a gold standard, but from a pragmatic (and now proven) political/impact assessment standpoint. The reality is, the stock market was not allowed [...]
