Monday, November 21, 2016

Being Smart With $$ - Too Much to Pay for Financial Advice

Is $50,000 too much to pay for financial advice on a $300,000 retirement account? Well, that's your average cost over 10 years when paying a simple annual 1% fee. Consider hourly, fee-based advice instead which would likely save you 80% of that cost.  If you were offered a low-risk chance to make $40,000, wouldn't you take it? Is your portfolio even larger?  The difference is even more substantial.
(Note: Cost includes fees and lost earnings on those fees. Assumes 6% investment returns.)
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Being smart with $$ - Timing the Market Post Trump is Hard

Trump is in. In response, some people are lightning up on their investments while others are adding. But timing the market is hard. When investors first found out Trump was likely to win, stocks fell a stunning 5%. If you were someone who sold at that point, you have given up 7% of gains since then. That's an average year's worth of gains. Timing the market loses more often than it wins. Staying invested and letting your portfolio grow over the decades has historically been a winning strategy. 
Larry Pike, CFA

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Being smart with $$ - Trump and Dump (international)?

Trump! So dump your international stocks? Not so fast. The markets adjust to new information faster than you can trade on it. Since the surprise results of the election, U.S. stocks are up and international stocks are down. Are you still thinking of selling your international stocks to buy American? Then you are saying you disagree with the consensus of the world's investors because the change in prices over the last few days already reflects their collective view as to what the election results mean to stocks around the world. But if you know better, go ahead and trade.
- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com