Insights

One reason the stock market fell sharply last week was new worries about inflation. So, Morningstar and others are recommending that you buys TIPS - Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities.   Their reasoning is that because twice a year, the value of a TIPS is...

Remington, one the oldest names in the outdoor industry is going bankrupt. This might seem odd because gun makers sold a ton of guns and ammo during the Obama presidency and stocks in that industry did exceptionally well. Some of you know I write articles for outdoor...

Your 401(k) account was up 10-20% in 2017? Good, but so were your fees. If costs are paid as a % of plan size, whenever your plan grows, fees grow, automatically. It's outrageous. It's automatic & nearly silent. You'll likely never get an invoice. You'll just get...

For my $$, Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Market Strategist at Charles Schwab is better and more interesting than any I've heard, though I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Bob Farrell, the legendary market technical analyst who helped me guide my clients in the...

The federal tax bill was signed by the president last week, squeezed in just before year-end. That gives you an extremely short window to take advantage of the greater value of losses or expenses this year. Tax brackets are dropping in January (next week), standard...

Earlier I posted comments on the bitcoin phenomenon and mentioned its meteoric rise this year, which was then 17 times and went up shortly afterwards to roughly 19 times. As a follow-up, bitcoin is down this week from nearly 19,000 to about 13,200 and is down 15%...

Why All the Excitement Over Bitcoins? Bitcoins are maybe the most unique and potentially revolutionary financial instrument to come along in a very long time. While to many people they are an esoteric, extremely complex instrument they have only barely heard of and...

Congratulations on a nice growth in retirement plan assets in 2016 and 2017. Now, how much did your fees go up? If you have a single provider for your retirement plan and your plan assets are under $25 million, chances are very high that your plan fees went up at...

Recently, the Wall St. Journal, the most wisely read financial newspaper in the U.S. ran a long research article very critical of the Morningstar rating rating system that awards funds 1 to 5 stars. The ratings are very widely followed and are the basis for a great...

So many smaller 401ks (under $10 million in assets) don't pay enough attention to 401(k) fees. But having total fees that are 1% higher can make a huge difference in your retirement funds.   For example, if you currently have $50,000 in your 401(k), earn $50,000 a...