Imagine someone gives you a NIS200 bill and tells you to buy dinner – but without saying where or what you should order. For some people, it would be enough for the entire meal, including the drinks and the tip, but for others it would be gone before the entrée arrives at the table…. Read more
Retirement planning is not only financial.
Retirement planning is more than analyzing your expenses and investment accounts. It is a deeply personal journey of who you are, what you like to do, and what type of legacy you wish to create. Retirement planning has a financial component, but before you gather all your bank statements,… Read more
Putting aside money for an emergency is a good idea, but for an emergency fund to be fully accessible, it needs to be in a liquid asset. Liquid assets, like money markets and CDs receive low interest. So why is putting money aside that won’t grow a good investment?
Reasons not to invest your emergency fund
The money you put aside for emergencies should be enough to cover several months of fixed income…. Read more
Putting a portion of your retirement portfolio in another country is a good way to diversify risk on a global level. The risks associated with the economy of any single country can be mitigated by purchasing assets in other countries. Geographic diversification can be achieved through a U.S. brokerage firm by buying foreign stocks,… Read more
As a financial advisor, I sometimes come across parents who, in trying to avoid spoiling their children, have passed down negative or unhealthy attitudes to money, either by not speaking about it at all or not teaching their children to relate to money appropriately. This is often reflected in poor spending habits,… Read more
Higher yield usually means greater risk. Frequently, investors are mesmerized by high-yield bonds and ignore the reason for the high yield. Higher yield bonds mean that there is a greater chance the bond might default. Investing in a bond fund or an exchange-traded fund diversifies away some of the risk, but won’t completely protect you from defaults on principal or interest payments…. Read more
Early retirement may sound appealing. But like most things, timing and planning are essential.
Assuming that you have planned your retirement with the help of a professional financial advisor, you should know how much money you will need to support your future lifestyle.
If your retirement income won’t suffice, you may need to consider part-time work…. Read more
No matter how well you plan, unexpected surprises can derail your budget. While it’s a good idea to have an emergency fund, if you have one, how do you decide when to dip into the fund? Is replacing a broken microwave an emergency?
There are a set amount of expenses that aren’t emergencies,… Read more
As you read this, inflation is eating away at the value of your money, and you need to protect your retirement from inflation. Over time, American’s inflation rate has slowly eroded the value of the dollar to the point where $1 today would only have been worth 4.8 cents in 1913 dollars…. Read more
With skyrocketing interest rates, investors are looking for a way to make more money. Yield-seeking investors have started looking at bond funds, which can offer diversification and professional management.
How’s the fund’s performance?
Just because the pros manage mutual funds, that’s no guarantee of returns. In fact, when a mutual fund company buys bonds,… Read more
