Invest Like a Woman

Summary To honor Women’s History Month, let’s look at recent trends, achievements, and the outlook for women in the world of finance. The gender gap in the world of financial planning and investing is quickly narrowing. Recent evidence suggests that women are starting to invest earlier than in previous generations, becoming more active in the [...]

Bonds???

Yes, our team has been asked this question more than a couple of times over the last few months. Why hold bonds now? The main critique of bonds today goes something like this: Bonds are in the Preservation Bucket in my portfolio for stability. The value of my Preservation Bucket is not stable. Therefore, bonds [...]

Higher Interest Rates are Definitely (maybe) Coming (eventually). Should I Sell My Bonds?

The thing I find most interesting about investing is how paradoxical it is: how often the things that seem most obvious—on which everyone agrees—turn out not to be true.” --Howard Marks, Co-Founder Oaktree Capital Management You may have heard the saying that “economists (and/or markets) have predicted 9 of the last 5 recessions.”  Perhaps then, [...]

Asset Location: Organize Your Portfolio Like Your Kitchen

My family’s kitchen will not be profiled on HGTV as a model of organization.  We face the practical limitations of 25-year old builder-grade cabinets and constrained space.  We also face the reality confronted by many parents of young children.  That is, the focus of children emptying a clean dishwasher is on getting it done quickly [...]

4 Things You’ll Wish You Did Before the Bull Market Becomes a Bear Market

Well-known investor Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital has often said, “You can’t predict, but you can prepare.”  While markets are cyclical, oscillating between bull and bear markets, you can never know with certainty when the market is going to turn, how quickly it may do so, how far it might fall, or when it will [...]

Low Rates and High Valuations Have You Down? Don’t Worry…Plan Right!

Since the advent of the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, catalyzed by successive rounds of quantitative easing and ever more stimulative monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, we have found ourselves in an environment of extremely low interest rates.  In this environment, fixed-income investors and savers seeking stable income streams have been punished, receiving ever [...]

Inflation and Interest Rates: TIPS

In a recent blog post on low-risk investments for an inflationary environment, we focused on Series-I Government bonds, highlighting their purchasing power protection, their unique taxation benefits, and their marketability and liquidity profile.  We also briefly mentioned TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities), a close relative of I-bonds, which are another variety of government issued bond [...]

Inflation and Interest Rates: Series I Bonds

Inflation is the sustained, upward movement of prices in an economy.  It is not defined by the price changes of a single item, rather it measures the general trend of prices paid for a wide range of goods and services, reflected by an index like the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  Generally speaking, prices for things [...]

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