Looking for tips related to financial planning and investment management?
Stock Market Pundits are Like Bad Diet Advice
In today's information driven world, it's crucial for stock market investors to get the right information and not get sucked into financial entertainment. The stock market pundits will always be telling you TO DO SOMETHING, even when they don't have your best interest...
Teachers Beware of High Fees in Your Retirement Account
A recent horror story came out about how over 1 million teachers have been misled about the amount of fees they've been paying in their retirement accounts. In this week's podcast, Tom and Casey discuss what other options teachers have and what steps they should...
Planning Your Lifestyle in Retirement
Your lifestyle will largely dictate the financial "success" of your retirement. Which is true before retirement as well. If you spend more than you make, you will struggle financially. In a recent blog post, I wrote about how you need to plan for what lifestyle you...
The Dangers of Margin Investing
Margin investing, or taking on debt to invest, is very risky. It always seems to gain popularity during market peaks. And make matters worse on the way back down. In this week's podcast, Tom and Casey discuss some recent events in the cryptocurrency space. We...
Your Odds of Making Money in the Stock Market
What are your odds of making money in the stock market? On a day-to-day basis it's basically a coin flip. But what about over a year? What about over 5 years? What about over 20 years? The longer your time horizon the more history is on your side. Tom breaks it all...
Does the Stock Market Move Ahead of the Economy?
It's often said that the stock market looks forward, while economic data looks in the rearview mirror. The stock market reacts to what it thinks is going to happen. While the economic data represents what has already happened. It is not uncommon to see the stock...
3 Things You Didn’t Know About Saving for College
In this week's video, Tim covers 3 things you might not know about saving for college. Can unused 529 account funds be used to pay off student loans? Can you roll a 529 plan into a Roth IRA? And what type of 529 plan should you use to build up that college savings...
What Are the Benefits of Delaying Social Security?
Social security benefits are a key part of any retirement plan. But deciding when to claim those benefits is something all retirees should think long and hard about. Deciding when to tap into your social security is a highly personalized decision. You paid money into...
Communicating With Your Investment Advisor
In this week's podcast, Tom and Casey discuss how crucial communication is for the investment advisor-client relationship. We take a different investment approach when money is needed in the short-term vs. growing it over the long-term. Things will change over...
2 Potential Changes Retirement Investors Should be Aware of
In this week's video, Casey discusses changes to retirement accounts that **could** happen in the near future. If you save for retirement in a 401(k) or IRA, you'll want to get these potential changes on your radar. We could see the age to begin RMDs pushed back and...
How to Start Planning for Retirement
Retirement is often thought of as one big decision. But planning for retirement is actually a series of small decisions made along the way. It usually starts out as wanting to know the answer to the BIG question of can I financially afford to retire? Or do I have to...
What if There is No Recession?
In this week's podcast, Tom and Casey discuss how the market has priced in a severe recession, and what that means moving forward. The guys review the latest charts and data points they've been paying attention to. With many of them pointing to improvements in...
4 Things Investors Need to Know Right Now
In this week's video, Tom discusses 4 things he wishes investors knew about navigating the market here in 2022. When investors are preparing for retirement, it's tempting to want to "turn off the risk" in their accounts. Tom explains why that's not a good idea while...
Interest Rates Are on the Rise Again… What Should We Expect?
In this week's podcast, Brendan, Tom and Casey discuss the Fed's decision to raise interest rates and the effects it might cause in the stock market and economy at large. The guys break down all the latest including inflation, oil/gas prices, housing and more....
3 Reasons Why Long-Term Investors Will Be Okay
Successful long-term investors invest through bear markets and recessions, not around them. In this week's video, Casey walks through our reasons for why we have so much conviction in long-term investing. Enduring short term market pain isn't easy. But if you can...
How Long Does it Take for the Stock Market to Bottom?
In this week's video Casey looks at how long **on average** it has taken for the stock market to bottom. Each market environment is different. But with everyone trying to "nail the bottom" it helps to have this context in mind. Our goal is not to try and time these...
What Should We Make of Conflicting Economic Data?
In this week's podcast, Tom and Casey discuss how the current economic data is telling two stories. We have historically low unemployment numbers but also historically high inflation, so what does that mean for everyday investors? The guys draw on historical examples...
Should You Downsize Your Home in Retirement?
Retirement is one of the biggest financial decisions you can make. It has far reaching implications across all areas of life. Another decision that often goes hand-in-hand with retirement is deciding whether or not to downsize your home. Most Americans believe that...
What Does Quantitative Tightening Mean?
There has been a lot of talk about the Fed's plan for quantitative tightening lately. But what exactly does that mean? And what should everyday investors expect? The Fed has been under the microscope so far in 2022 due to raising interest rates. But there is another...
Should You Contribute MORE to Your Investments When the Market is Down?
Contributing more to your investments when the market is down may seem like throwing good money after bad. But, for long term investors, it is exactly what you want to be doing. You're buying shares of investments at a lower cost.... which is a good thing, right?!...