Making Cents: Dollar Cost Averaging
Dollar cost averaging is a term that has been around for many years, but always seems to get a lot more usage during turbulent markets. Whether it’s justification for continuing to invest in your 401K or simply systematically contributing new investable money into your accounts over a specified time period, dollar cost averaging is here…
Making Cents: The Wisdom of Rebalancing Portfolios
For most investors, their portfolio starts out with an allocation amongst a few different asset classes. There may be large and small U. S. Equity, U. S. and foreign debt, large and small foreign equities, real estate and so on. The goal for most investors is to start with a portfolio that is broadly diversified…
Market Update April 3, 2024
As we continue to do on an occasional basis for our Napier Financial newsletter readers, we’re sharing some brief high-level perspectives from our investment team’s vantage point on what’s recently taken place in markets and our investment outlook ahead. Since last January’s investment update, stock markets have pretty much gone nowhere but north. The reasons…
Making Cents : Game Changing Life Transitions that need Attention
Most people approach their financial planning on a piecemeal basis. They look at their portfolio every now and then. They talk to an estate planner every 10 or 20 years, even though it should be more frequent. They buy their life insurance in a vacuum and never look at it again. They buy and sell…
Avoiding Battles about Money
According to a 2012 Harris Interactive poll, about 36% of all couples aged 55 – 64 argue about money. That’s the highest percentage amongst any age group and significant because people in that age bracket are either retired early or thinking about the day that they may stop working. Most life and financial transitions are…
MAKING CENTS: Clever Terms to Investigate
Financial services marketers are quite clever at getting you to see their point of view. In their creative genius, they use words that sound quite appealing to most people and utilize those words to fit your situation making what they’ve got to sell sound like your only solution. The first such word is guaranteed. You…
Making Cents: What Is Volatility And Why Does It Matter
Unless all of your savings are stored in guaranteed rate instruments like bank accounts, you have probably felt the consequences of volatility somewhere. Volatility in the investment world attempts to measure the stability or susceptibility of your investment to sudden changes in value. These sudden changes cut both ways. Volatility can cause the value of…
Making Cents: Expanding Your Annual Financial Check Up
As the calendar marches toward the final quarter of the year, there are certain financial rituals that many astute investors embrace. They routinely scour their portfolios for gains or losses to harvest, see that their allocations align with their expectations and they plan for ways to reduce the income taxes that they’ll pay for the…
Market Trends June 2023
Given all the events in motion with the economy and markets these days, on an occasional basis we will begin providing some brief perspectives from our investment team’s vantage point on market trends for our Napier newsletter readers. Looking back over the past several months, equity markets have had a lot of serious issues thrown…
Making Cents: Take the Noise in Stride When Considering Investment Approach
Looking back over history there are many times when policy, politics and fear overcame markets. It happens in just about every market; real estate, Wall Street, Currencies and Commodities both domestically and abroad. Sometimes these markets react favorably and other times, unfavorably. What is exceptionally tough to do is to use policy, politics and fear to…