International funds have received a lot of attention in recent years, and this should come as no surprise. For starters, it has become increasingly common for investors to build multi-fund international portfolios rather than rely on individual foreign offerings for all their overseas exposure. Further, ...(more)

Investment Philosophy…Free Markets Work There are two theories involving investment philosophy that drive investors. The traditional investment firm believes free markets fail. These firms want you to believe that they can tell you what asset classes will result in superior returns. These firms want you ...(more)

When considering how to preserve and build wealth, one factor to keep in mind is that inflation and taxes impact your returns and your income. Whatever return you, an independent woman, receive from your investments and whatever income you eventually receive from retirement accounts will ...(more)

This is a question people often ask. If you’re one of them, I hope this will help simplify your decision making. First, it’s important to understand just how leasing differs from buying – Now, I’m going to ‘make up’ my own numbers here, just for ...(more)

Nobody likes to contemplate the death of a child. We’d all like to assume that our children will outlive us. Nevertheless, it does happen, from time to time. Over the years, I’ve found that some families are more open to considering life insurance on a ...(more)

Here’s a short little tip you might find helpful. The other day I was talking with someone when the conversation finally turned to the familiar, ‘what do I do now’ question. I told him what he intuitively already knew: No one can predict the future ...(more)

Finally. The U.S. Labor Departments new 401(k) fee disclosure rules are about to take effect. For years the 401(k) plan, to a certain extent, has been something that resembles a national disgrace; rife with conflicts of interest. Revenue sharing – whereby the retirement plan industry ...(more)

The Wall St Journal, in its Personal Finance section, recently asked two ostensible experts to take opposing sides in answering the question “Should You Purchase Long-Term Care Insurance?’ In my 20+ years as a Financial Planner, I can't think of a financial product for which ...(more)

What do BMW, Burberry and Prada have in common? Well, yes, all three are European companies with an old pedigree that produce highly-sought-after luxury goods, but besides that? Unlike some of their peers—such as Daimler AG (DDAIF) or Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton (LVMUY), none trade ...(more)

In a study titled “Risk Aversion or Myopia? Choices in Repeated Gambles and Retirement Investments,” Shlomo Benartzi and Richard Thaler, professors at the Anderson School at UCLA and the University of Chicago, respectively, studied a group of defined contribution plan participants. The participants were divided ...(more)

Dividends and Total Return Income is important to consider when choosing an investment. Especially important for investors approaching retirement, income can add meaningfully to one’s total return, which comprises income and price return (capital appreciation). Investors can pursue income returns in many ways including bonds, ...(more)

If you’re not involved in making day-to-day decisions about your company’s retirement plan, you may think that rules about fiduciary responsibility don’t apply to you. However, it’s possible that you are a fiduciary and don’t even know it. While retirement plan fiduciaries assume serious responsibilities, ...(more)

In view of the tremendous market volatility over the last several years and recent regulatory disclosure requirements, many business owners, who also serve as the “sponsor” for their company retirement plan, have recognized the importance and value of reviewing, and perhaps modifying, their current retirement ...(more)

If you ask airplane pilots, odds are most will say that takeoff and landing are the busiest parts of a flight. There are lots of variables to take into account to make a safe landing, such as wind speed, altitude, air traffic, visibility and so ...(more)

New 401k Disclosures to Current & Former Participants Top 10 Questions to Human Resources (HR) from "Paul, the Participant" The " A" italicized answers prevent liability & concerns (if your plan design permits) Please see ERISA §404(a)(5) and www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsparticipantfeerule.html (due to terminated and active participants ...(more)

Laddering Bond Portfolios Individual investors have always worried about investing in the bond market at the wrong time, since a subsequent rise in interest rates, would result in a decline on the market price of their bonds.This is especially true now, where interest rates are ...(more)

Retirement plan fiduciaries are subject to standards governing their conduct in exercising their responsibilities acting on behalf of retirement plan participants. While many understand they must act solely in the best interest of plan participants with the exclusive purpose of providing retirement plan benefits – ...(more)

Investing and poker have been compared on many levels. For starters, poker is a zero-sum game—what the winner wins has to be equal to what the losers lose. But investing is not a zero-sum game because over time stocks tend to have positive returns, making ...(more)

What’s the easiest way to find a stock with a 10% dividend yield? Find a stock yielding 5% and watch its price get cut in half. I say this mostly in jest, but this is precisely what happened to investors in RadioShack (NYSE:RSH), the iconic ...(more)

In a world in which paper gains can be ephemeral, it’s good to be paid in cold, hard cash. Without regular income, the only way to monetize your investments is to sell shares of your stocks or mutual funds. It should go without saying that ...(more)