Blog

  • Morningstar: How Expense Ratios and Star Ratings Predict Success

    Morningstar: How Expense Ratios and Star Ratings Predict Success Essential reading for any mutual fund investor.  Even Morningstar, whose star ratings are widely watched in the industry, finds and readily admits that *expenses* are a better indicator of future performance.From the article:The star rating is a measure of risk- and load-adjusted returns, so naturally I… Read more

  • WSJ/Burton Malkiel: Where to Put Your Money in 2012

    WSJ/Burton Malkiek: Where to Put Your Money in 2012 Another excellent op-ed piece by Burton Malkiel, author of the classic “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”.Malkiel makes the following points (summarized – but you should really read the article):Bonds, especially US and Europe, are not positioned to do very well in the futureStocks, especially the… Read more

  • How To Build Your Financial Dream Team

    How To Build Your Financial Dream Team A nice article in the WSJ’s “Weekend Investor” column about how to build a team of professionals to help you keep your financial house in order — starting with your financial advisor (with mentions of some orgs like the FPA, NAPFA, CFP Board to help find people, as… Read more

  • WSJ – The Bond Buyer’s Dilemma

    The Bond Buyer’s Dilemma The yields on long-term US Treasury bonds will likely fall below inflation for years.  Fortunately, some reasonable alternatives strategies exist for investors. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204449804577068152764286924.html –snip– A few bits and pieces from the opinion piece: Are we in an era now when many bondholders are likely to experience very unsatisfactory investment results?  I Read more

  • How to Pay Your Financial Advisor

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204554204577024152103830414.html Discusses the pros and cons of various compensation schemes for advisors Asset-Based Fee Fee Plus Commissions Flat Fee Net Worth and Income Hourly Fee What’s missing, I think, is the cases where people don’t realize that they’re paying at all, which usually means commissions or back-end fees.  Lots of folks who call themselves “financial Read more

  • Year-End Deadlines

    While we recommend planning and managing your finances all year long – this is a process, not a singular task – there are a few deadlines which come up at year-end which cannot be ignored.  Some of them represent potential missed opportunities, while at least one of them represents something that if you don’t do Read more