All you have to do is Google the phrase “When is the best age to take Social Security?” and you’ll get endless advice from people all over on the perfect timing for taking Social Security. Even though not one single advice-giver knows anything about you! As a financial advisor who plans for people every day, it isn’t really that easy …
In my previous articles in this series on which mutual fund categories reward active or passive investing approaches, we’ve analyzed all the core equity categories, such as U.S. Large Cap, SMID Cap, and Foreign Large Cap. So I decided to jump to the fixed income side of the portfolio, as the emerging market equity screening generated no index funds from …
In my previous article on this evergreen topic of debate for advisors and investors, we’ve analyzed all U.S. Large Cap Blend, Growth and Value mutual funds, along with the most recent – Who Wins the ‘Passive vs. Active’ Institutional Debate? Part 4: US Mid-, Small-Cap Blends — to see who wins the passive versus active debate. (See all the articles in …
In my first three articles, we hit on the broad U.S. Large-Cap arena—Blend, Growth and Value. All three provided some interesting findings on the hugely debated subject matter relative to the institutional investment space. In this article, we’re going to round out the U.S. core equity investing space by analyzing both the Mid-Cap Blend and Small-Cap Blend. Again—keep in mind, …
My last two articles (Who Wins ‘Passive vs. Active’ Institutional Debate? Pt. 1: U.S. Large Cap Blend, and Who Wins ‘Passive vs. Active’ Institutional Debate? Pt. 2: U.S. Large Cap Growth) hit on two of the three asset classes in the U.S. large cap arena – blend and growth.
Advisors and investors alike hear all the time in various articles, speeches and interviews that passive investment funds (indexes) always outperform active investment funds (non-indexes). In my view, however, I’ve found that most articles written on the subject rarely provide precise “apples to apples” comparisons, much less an all-institutional dialogue about true data. Therefore, through a series of articles, my …
Check out Andy’s post from ThinkAdvisor regarding the “VALUE” of an Advisor… Find out what “the silver bullet”, “Vegas”, “winning big” and “having your cake and eating it too” might have to do with the actual VALUE of an advisor…
All investors are looking for the “Perfect Advisor”, but for some reason, many never find them. And It’s no wonder, if even some of what I’ve heard investors want in their “perfect advisor” is true! Allow me to elaborate. To these investors, the perfect advisor is: 1) Smart: They expect their perfect advisor to be highly educated, have years of …
Because every client’s needs are unique, a canned approach to tax-efficient savings of Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), NQ annuities, NQ accounts, etc., is not necessarily the most flexible or tax efficient option for every client. As advisors, we know that the words “tax-free” don’t always mean there’s no tax ever paid, just like the term “pre-tax” doesn’t mean …
Tax planning for clients during tax season always generates new strategies and ideas, as unique situations tend to get my analytical wheels turning. From a risk/reward wealth management perspective, I like to look at tax planning with the actual cost to the client in mind, including what is the best cash flow option, because the most tax efficient savings strategy …
