Recently, I was reviewing a client’s account that is managed by a large retail brokerage company. The account had 31 mutual funds and a value of approximately $165,000. This equates to a little over $5,000 per fund. The funds were allocated to a diversified portfolio that was based on the client’s time horizon, investment goals, […]
General
TV Appearance on the “10 Percent”
Several months ago, I made my first ever TV appearance on the Comcast local television show, the 10 Percent. I want to thank David Perry of David Perry and Associates for inviting me on the show. David and I discussed a number of topics including my transition from engineering to financial advising, behavioral biases that result […]
The New Fiduciary Rule – Just Plain Common Sense
On April 8, the Department of Labor (DOL) released the final version of its long awaited fiduciary rule that applies to retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s and IRAs. The purpose of the rule is to ensure that financial advisors put their clients’ interests ahead of their own. It’s a simple concept that is just plain common […]
The Danger of Reaching for Yield in a Low Interest Rate World
Recently, high-yield bonds, otherwise known as junk bonds, have been in the news following the collapse of the Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund. This mutual fund invested in some of the riskiest and least liquid bonds and corporate bank loans. The fund was already down 27% in 2015. As investors tried to get their money […]
My mutual funds are down. How can I have capital gains?
It’s that time of year when mutual funds make their capital gains distributions. As of Nov 23, the S&P 500 is up a little over 1% for the year. The Dow (DJIA) is actually fractionally down for the year. However, many mutual funds will be paying out large taxable distributions in the coming weeks. How is this […]