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 […]
Five Years!
Five years ago, on March 7, 2014, L Squared Wealth Management (LSWM) was officially approved by California as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). It’s hard to believe five years have gone by so quickly. My goal when I started LSWM was to provide clients with a superior financial advisory experience by focusing on three core […]
Hope Is Not a Great Investment Strategy
The US stock market (large companies) has returned approximately 10% annualized for the period from 1926 – 2017 according to data from Morningstar. Talk to almost any financial advisor or read an investment article on-line, and this number is often cited. It is no wonder that the typical investor expects their portfolio to return 10% […]
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 When funds are withdrawn (not rolled over) from the 401(k), the entire withdrawal is taxed at the taxpayer’s current tax rate.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 […]
Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results!
How often have you read a financial article or looked at a financial graph and noticed the warning “Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results”? Almost every one of these articles or graphs includes this warning to avoid guaranteeing performance. Yet, Morningstar, the company that provides analysis of mutual funds and ETFs, rates these investments […]
Bitcoin Mania!
Bitcoin has been all over the news lately, with its meteoric rise in 2017. The cryptocurrency started 2017 just under $1,000. As the year closes, it is approaching $20,000, an approximately 2,000% return. Bitcoin has certainly caught the attention of the mainstream population. Most have very little idea what it is or its purpose. For […]
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 […]