Fifty-one million American workers have an active 401(k) account and Smart Money Magazine estimates that the balances in these plans accumulate to $4.3 trillion. Without a doubt, 401(k) – or their brethren 403(b) – plans are the primary retirement vehicles for the majority of American employees. Not so long ago, retirees relied on pensions for [...]
“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth . . . not going all the way, and not starting.” – Buddha Two months ago, we wrote an essay about the process for determining how much money you need to retire. However, saving for retirement is only half the battle. This article [...]
“Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It’s to see my dividends coming in.” – John D. Rockefeller In the world of investments, everything is cyclical. Hot trends inevitably cool off and passé ideas return to popularity. Today, stock dividends have become the latest investment theme to regain favor. As the last [...]
“If you hear this message, wherever you stand / I’m calling every woman, calling every man / We’re the generation / We can’t afford to wait / The future started yesterday and we’re already late.” – John Legend, “If You’re Out There” There is no better time than today to start planning for retirement, whether [...]
In the world of investments, the phrase “crowded trade” is used to describe a security or an investment theme that has attracted an unusually large number of participants. As an investment idea becomes more and more popular, it attracts greater inflows of capital, but the fun never lasts forever. As contrarian investors, we want to [...]
With stocks displaying tremendous volatility and with bonds yielding next to nothing, it is no wonder that investors are looking for a state of perfect happiness beyond these traditional asset classes. In 1991, the grunge rock band Nirvana made alternative music mainstream with their album Nevermind. Today, in the world of investments, alternative asset classes [...]
“The key to making money in the stock market is not to get scared out of it.” – Peter Lynch, Fidelity Magellan Manager (1977-1990) Since the Standard and Poor’s 500 reached its near-term bull market high on April 29, 2011, we have experienced highly volatile trading on a day-to-day basis. Through it all, the result [...]
Renowned Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once stated, “Some people try to find things in this game that don’t exist, but football is only two things – blocking and tackling.” Success in investing, much like football, is not about completing the Hail Mary pass. Executing the seemingly minor tasks, like blocking and tackling, lead [...]
“I wish a buck was still silver. It was, back when the country was strong . . . When a man could still work, and still would. Is the best of the free life behind us now? Are the good times really over for good? Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for [...]
The commodity market is holding Ben Bernanke hostage. Exploding gasoline and food prices might force the Federal Reserve Chairman to raise interest rates despite his fears that the economy is too weak to stomach it. The Standard and Poor’s Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, an energy-heavy measure of commodity prices, is up about 43% from a [...]
