Being smart with $$ -- Hall of Fame and Retirement Saving

Congratulations Pedro Martinez. To get into the Hall of Fame takes years of hard work and diligence.  Same as saving for retirement .
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com

Being smart with $$ -- Different kinds of financial advisors

Networking events are great.  Where else can you find out about a Bus that has Spin Bikes on it and you can take a Spin Class during your commute to work? (www.bikebus.com)  These events also show that most financial advisors operate under models that generate high fees from their clients.  Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC's model of providing advice and guidance on an hourly fee basis is much harder to find.  CPFA LLC does not earn commissions so it won't recommend products on that basis, it does not need to sell internal company products and it does not charge you year after year even if you are not seeking any help..
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com
- Blog: www.clientpriority.blogspot.com

Being smart with $$ - Gold, What Is It Good For?

GOLD, HUH, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? It's down over 2% today.  It's below where it was 5 years ago vs. stocks that are up about 100% in that same time frame.  Some advisors say Gold is a good hedge against  inflation and others like it as a safe haven in scary times (and it sure has shined in some times like those).  But why does it have value beyond the pretty jewelry it makes?  It doesn't earn anything like stocks do (when companies generate profits) or like bonds do (when borrowers pay you back your money plus interest).  It has no intrinsic value other than the value we attribute to it.  Gold will have value as long as people say it does.  I just don't want to own too much when they decide they no longer want to pay $1000 for a small chunk of metal.
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com

Being smart with $$ - Zero dollars doesn't last long

Zero.  That's how much 26% of people surveyed said they have saved for emergencies.  (Money Magazine July 2015.)  If you lose your job, you could plow through zero dollars faster than images of Pluto get transmitted back home.  Scary.  How will you pay for next month's premium cable package?
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com

Being smart with $$ -- Be a 401(k) millionaire

Oh to be a 401(k) millionaire.  In the July 2015 Money Magazine letters column, one fellow writes that he did it over 31 years not by being smart, but just by investing in good markets and bad.  Stocks go up and stocks go down.  And it's painful when they fall but if you keep investing after the decline, you are buying more shares per dollar invested.  And that consistency may make YOU a 401(k) millionaire.
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com

Being smart with $$ -- What kind of advisor do you want?

Financial advisors come is all shapes and sizes. And approaches too.  Some only want to sell you insurance because they work for insurance companies.  Some want to gather your assets because they collect 1% of that amount from you every year (which can be a surprisingly large amount of money over the years.)  Some get commissions or incentives to sell their own company's products.  And some work for an hourly fee and have no incentives to sell anything that isn't in your best interest.  They just give advice and provide solutions without being influenced by outside incentives.  Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC is that last kind that really believes the Client IS the Priority.
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com

Being smart with $$ -- You're slower than the headlines

Does a scary headline make you want to sell your stocks? Well, you're too late.  Before you can hit the "Execute Trade" button, the price has already adjusted to the news.  So do you still want to sell?  After the "no" vote in Greece this weekend, many wanted to punt stocks.   If you went to sell Apple stock the instant the market opened today, you sold at price that was $1.50 below the prior close.  But what comes next is always the real mystery.  After half a day of trading, it regained half of what it lost at the open.  Remember that very few people have any unique insights that might give them an edge and market timing rarely works.
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com

Being smart with $$ -- Stocks are always where investors think they should be at that moment

Greece fire! Investors voted with their brokerage accounts Monday that the Dow was worth 350 points less due to Greece's financial woes.  Does that mean stocks will keep falling?  If they thought prices should be even lower, the index would have closed lower.  Stocks at any point in time reflect what investors collectively think they are worth at that moment.  Be careful believing that yesterday's prices will predict tomorrow's action.  Sometimes they seem to.  Sometimes they don't. Since Monday's close, stocks are up.
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com