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 [...]
We are receiving more and more questions about cryptocurrencies and the role they play in RPG Managed Portfolios. Frequently crypto questions center around whether or not this is a craze, or if the blockchain and cryptocurrencies are built to last. Are we seeing a bubble or will prices continue to soar? Is it too late? What does [...]
Long and difficult-to-read books and articles abound on asset allocation strategy and the role that fixed income plays in a diversified portfolio. This note aspires to be neither long, nor difficult! Rather, we want to take a moment to remind ourselves and our readers of the important role that bonds play in a portfolio, even [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
With the annual Medicare Open Enrollment upon us (October 15th – December 7th), we thought it would be helpful to highlight some key areas that you should focus on during this time to make the most of this valuable benefit. Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage – You can change between the two (from Original Medicare [...]
A number of years ago, we authored this article explaining why higher income parents may be well served to gift appreciated investments to their children and then have the children use the proceeds to pay for college. The article further explained how taxpayers who faced alternative minimum tax (AMT) received no tax benefit from [...]
From an economic perspective, insurance is useful to protect against low frequency, high severity events. Quite simply, we are well served to insure infrequent events that would be financially devastating like the loss of a home to fire or an untimely death. This ultimately begs the question of why people purchase insurance to protect against [...]
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 [...]
