Blog

Understanding the Money Value of Time

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 10, 2017

In the realm of financial planning, time is our most valuable asset.  It’s available to all of us, providing each individual with the same opportunity to optimize its value in building wealth. It’s the only resource we all have over which we have some degree of control. However, it is a wasting resource if it is not optimally utilized.  Each day that passes, without some contribution of money, either in savings or interest, the cost of our financial goals increases. As time marches on, the obstacles to achieving goals of any time horizon become increasingly insurmountable. 

Does Investing Inertia Have You Trapped?

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 8, 2017

Investors are prone to many behavioral mistakes that can cost them dearly. Trying to time the market, trying to pick the winners, chasing returns, trying to go it alone are among the most common. But the one that can inflict the most damage over a period of time is when they succumb to investing inertia. What is investing inertia? In physics, inertia refers to an object’s “amount of resistance to change in velocity.” Without some other force to affect it, an object will not change course or speed.

Why You Need an Investment Philosophy

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 7, 2017

There are many who would suggest that, in a digitally-wired world in which information travels at light speed to all corners, the investment playing field has been leveled between individual investors and the institutions. In reality, however, the incessant noise and information overload can do more to fuel the irrational behavior of investors than it can to provide any sort of advantage.

Student Loan Defaults Can Wreak Havoc on Retirees

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 6, 2017

No one could have foreseen the convergence of two of the most consequential economic events in our history – the mass migration of the Baby Boom generation into their final life stage and the tectonic shift of a declining global economy.  Unhinged stock market volatility, rising health care costs and historically low interest rates on savings have caused millions of pre-retirees to rethink their plans and their vision, especially as they consider the prospect of having to stretch their retirement income over 25 or 30 years.  As if that weren’t enough, now tens of thousands of retirees are f

Are You Nominally or Really on Track to Your Retirement Goals?

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 5, 2017

Amidst the more obvious lingering effects of a sluggish economy, such as slow job growth, decreasing incomes, low interest rates and shaky consumer confidence, there lurks a more insidious threat which, thus far, has largely been ignored. Inflation or the prospect of its resurgence has somehow remained under the radar; perhaps because the official measure, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), is still below historical averages, or perhaps because the government has done such a good job in convincing the public that inflation is not a real threat at the moment.

With Stocks Still Near Their Highs What Should Retirees Do Now?

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 4, 2017

Although the stock prices are trading near their all-time highs, it hasn’t exactly been a joy ride for retirees who are counting on their retirement plans for a lifetime of income.  The type of unruly market action that we have seen over the last few months always unleashes a flurry of “expert” commentary that seems to be directed at those who are most vulnerable to flash declines. Specifically, the pundits are talking to those investors who are now relying upon stock market returns to feed their incomes and instilling doubt over their investment strategy. 

Investing for Retirement: What Would Warren Buffett Do?

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 3, 2017

Caught in an extraordinary convergence of unhinged stock market volatility and historically low interest rates on savings, many people are rethinking their plans and their vision for the future, especially as they consider the prospect of having to stretch their retirement income over 25 or 30 years.  A study conducted in 2015 by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found workers of all ages are continuing to lose confidence in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement.

3 Risk Factors that Can Improve Portfolio Performance

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 2, 2017

For as long as there has been stock markets, investors have intuitively known that expectations of returns come with commensurate expectations of risk; the higher return one expects the greater the risk one assumes in order to achieve it. But, it wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990’s that a series of research reports revealed just how important an understanding of risk is in constructing investment portfolios that could achieve above-average rates of return while reducing portfolio value volatility.

Managing Student Loan Debt Through Consolidation

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jul 1, 2017

The figures out last year show that the average amount of student loan debt a student graduates with is a little more than $35,000.  Most graduates are carrying multiple student loans from multiple sources, and the cost and complexity of managing them can become overwhelming, especially if they are unable to secure steady employment with sufficient cash flow to make the payments.

Why Bear Markets Don’t Matter

by Keith A. Rhodus on Jun 30, 2017

If you’ve been listening to the financial media of late you have no doubt heard some of the so-called experts prognosticating on the prospect of the next big bear market. Unquestionably, the stock market is at another crossroads, and its 7 percent increase year-to-date belies the concerns that most people have over the global economy. So, gloom and doom forecasts by a media anxious to sell papers or air time, should not be at all surprising. Even if we were to buy into the media hype, should we be at all concerned? In the overall scheme of things, should bear markets even matter to us?