When it comes to investment returns, most people, including those who work in financial markets, only consider nominal numbers. For example, they look at the price of the S&P 500 Index now, where it was a year ago and work out what the total return was including dividends in that period.
Cryptocurrencies may be all the rage, but good luck figuring out how they fit in a portfolio.
Jasmin and Ryan recently exchanged ideas about trading apps and new software that can help educate investors about key investment principles.
Is "the grind" as outdated as the Boomers that came up with the saying?
The global economy has less policy flexibility to deal with a possible stagflationary shock, and central banks have few good options to counter possible financial market malfunction that would amplify economic challenges.
It's called social media for a reason. Most people get the media part. They share links back to their website, blog, or podcast. But they forget about the social part.
As a recovering workaholic who loves what I do, it is essential to understand what drove that condition and the costs it incurred for me and my family.
Advisors can choose from five approaches to meet their clients’ income needs in retirement, each with its own merits and drawbacks. Those strategies attempt to solve for a central goal – ensuring that clients don’t run out of money – a risk that is illustrated by my wife’s catering business.
Neglecting non-financial assets, such as Social Security and pensions, will misstate the risk in a retired (or near retired) client’s asset allocation strategy.
Advisors make seven predictably irrational mistakes when it comes to bonds, depleting their clients’ wealth and standard of living.
Since the initial publication of research documenting active share, its advocates have clung to the belief that the metric could identify funds that would outperform. But the academic evidence has all but disproven that thesis.
Which is riskier, bitcoin or Tesla? Here is the analytical framework I created to answer that question.
Advisors who reject bucketing strategies because they won’t invest as many as five years of assets in low-yielding securities are exposing clients to risks that threaten their standard of living in retirement.
There’s so much you can learn from people who are able to create positive outcomes daily from tense situations. Here are four business skills I’ve gleaned from studying the ways of hostage negotiators, and one from the drug dealers who live down the hall.
I’ve been asked for my thoughts on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Most analysts expected some action on interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2022 — but maybe not the five rate hikes they’re now pricing in. Inflation was clearly driving upwards, but we’re seeing much higher, more consistent price increases.
Investors gauging the likely size of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hike in March and plans for shrinking a balance sheet now at a record $8.9 trillion will get fresh clues on Wednesday.
When the going gets tough in the U.S., the tough go shopping. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales surged 3.8% in January, the most in 10 months and well above the 2% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The surge in mortgage rates we've seen this year is making an already dysfunctional housing market even more uncertain. Higher lending costs will make housing less affordable, which should cool demand and at least slow price increases.
The mayors of Miami and New York City have taken their salaries in cryptocurrencies. An Arizona state legislator wants to declare Bitcoin legal tender. From Florida to Wyoming, state and local officials have put forth or even carried out plans to accept various taxes in digital tokens — developments sometimes touted as a challenge to the U.S. dollar’s dominance.
The Federal Reserve needs to deliver a Volcker-style shock to drive down asset prices if it wants to slow inflation without causing a recession, according to Credit Suisse Group AG strategist Zoltan Pozsar.
A crash to Earth for growth stocks and cryptocurrencies is one thing, but a sharp decline in mainstream bond mutual funds could spell enormous trouble. Signs are emerging of the beginnings of a potential downward spiral in these funds, which could ultimately lead to redemption halts and subsequent panic by retail investors.
Rather than attempt to follow every twist and turn of the geopolitical drama, or all the excitement in Washington, it might be best to focus on the most vital commodity market — liquidity.
Sometimes yesterday’s crazy idea turns out to be sane or even essential. For instance, Fischer Black, the late finance economist and co-discoverer of modern options pricing theory, argued that the rate of price inflation will be whatever we think it will be.
Governments that had propped up Covid-ravaged economies by issuing social bonds are now turning their attention to longer-term climate goals, while companies are keen for increased flexibility when spending proceeds from sales of environmental, social and governance (ESG) debt. That’s crimping the flow of social notes that typically fund specific projects such as job creation or affordable housing.
Starting May 15, New York City will require every job posting to be accompanied by a minimum and maximum salary for the position. Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, California, Washington and Maryland already have laws requiring some salary-range disclosure; Rhode Island will join them at the start of next year. Similar laws are under consideration in Massachusetts and South Carolina.
Some deficit hawks acknowledged that the U.S. was in a period of extraordinarily low interest rates. But they warned that this phenomenon could reverse itself at any time. What they misunderstood is the effect that the response to secular stagnation would have on the overall economy in the short term.
There is no greater threat to your financial wellbeing than divorce. Unless you are very wealthy or extremely poor, both former spouses will see a decline in their lifestyle
Some observers assume I tell everyone that they should go down the RIA path. That is not the case.
I’m not averse to having clients tell their friends and family about me; I’m just averse to making it sound like they need to do it because we need them to do it.
Observing the lack of traffic at a new Ferrari dealership led me to an important insight into how advisors should justify their value to prospects.
ICYMI: In this roundup, we’re highlighting the five most popular pieces of content from the previous week.
Last week, the Labor Department published data that showed consumer price rose 7.5% in January from a year earlier, the biggest increase in decades. Persisting high inflation has led has led the central bank to pivot toward a tighter monetary stance to help cool off prices.
Gold dropped from an eight-month high and wheat slid after Russia said some of its troops would return to their bases. Industrial metals including nickel held steady.
Crypto proponents have argued for years that regulators shouldn’t apply decades-old rules to the burgeoning asset class. But in a move with sweeping implications for the industry, at least one prominent company is now planning to register its offerings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Partisanship isn’t entirely absent from Fed picks. Although President Joe Biden has renominated the (Republican) chair originally selected by former President Donald Trump, the rest of his current picks would all be unlikely choices for any Republican president. Still, there’s nothing like the current fighting over court confirmations.
A practice built on a stool of products, pricing and performance is doomed to collapse. Competent planning requires a focus on the deeper issues your clients face.
Rental prices for single-family homes grew an average of 7.8% in 2021, an all-time high, according to the most recent data available from CoreLogic Inc. In December, U.S. home rents jumped 12% year over year for the month, with Miami leading the way with a 35.7% increase.
Prices paid to U.S. producers jumped in January by more than forecast, pointing to persistent inflationary pressures as companies contend with supply-chain and labor constraints.
As a financial planner, I don't get paid just to develop financial strategies for clients. I get paid to help them put sound advice into action. Advice without action accomplishes nothing.
Here are the most common compliance concerns and how your firm can avoid them.
New advisors face an uphill battle. Building your clientele from scratch and producing results for your firm – all while trying to learn the business – is tough. In fact, 80 to 90% fail in the first three years.
Millions of Americans are unprepared for retirement because of risk intolerance, creating a massive societal cost.
Cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial services companies were stars amid a Super Bowl ad blitz that featured the return of many longtime sponsors and an overall more celebratory mood than last year.
Online brokers like Robinhood Markets Inc. and crypto assets might get the headlines, but the Securities and Exchange Commission’s parallel effort to drag private-equity firms and hedge funds out of the shadows will have far more impact on far more lives.
Judging by the record number of people who’ve quit their jobs in the pandemic -– the so-called Great Resignation -– millions of Americans don’t really like their work.
For an ambitious, career-ladder climber, what sort of person makes the best mate? The human heart is not known for being coldly calculating, but pretend, for a moment, that it could be. What personality traits should be preferred?
The recent guidance provided by the U.S. Treasury Department on transaction reporting by crypto companies is shining some light on staking -- one of the least understood but hottest corners of the digital-asset world.
Traders and buyers of Asia’s favored oil grades from Russia, particularly ESPO and Sokol from the far east, are becoming increasingly wary of being caught up in possible trade restrictions should the OPEC+ producer be sanctioned, they said.
Those nearing or in retirement are worried about what higher-than-expected inflation will mean. Here are a few things to consider to temper their anxiety.
