Many investors have a dark, ugly secret – they don’t have an investment plan for their portfolio. Their portfolios are often a semi-random collection of stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds purchased over a long period of time. While markets are going up, as they have for much of the last 10 years, these randomly selected securities […]
All or Nothing
Many times, when I talk to investors, I’m confronted with the “All or Nothing” syndrome. It’s a black and white approach to decision making. I can do choice A, or I can do choice B. There is often no thought that the investor can do a combination of A and B, and that may be […]
The Most Valuable Company in 2050
Today, the most valuable American companies (by market capitalization) are Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, and Facebook. Five of these six companies are technology companies. Of the 5 tech companies, only two of them existed 30 years ago (Apple and Microsoft). Apple dominates high-end consumer technology products and services. Google dominates on-line paid […]
Should I Contribute to a 401(k) Roth?
Most companies offer traditional 401(k) accounts to employees. In these accounts, employees make pre-tax contributions (up to $18,500 in 2018) to save for retirement and reduce current taxable income. When funds are withdrawn (not rolled over) from the 401(k), the entire withdrawal is taxed at the taxpayer’s current tax rate. Hence, if you are in […]
The Rule of 72
Compound interest is the most powerful force in investing. By allowing our investments to grow through the magic of compounding, an investment of $50,000 can grow to $1,000,000 over a 40-year investment period at a rate of return of just under 8%. We see interest rates and rates of return, but it is not always […]