How the “Little Guy” Really Wins in the Market
Category: Investing
Don’t believe the lie that you don’t belong or that the keys belong to someone who won’t give them to you.
May 10, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing
Daniel Wallick joins us from Vanguard for a two-part interview on our bi-monthly Financial Perspectives. This first part centers on interest rates, inflation, and the bond market. Are you wondering about what part bonds play in your portfolio and what do interest rates and potential inflation have to do with that?
April 26, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing
Markets have been reaching some all-time highs recently. US stock markets, foreign stock markets, even newer assets like bitcoin, SPACs, and NFTs have been soaring much of the past six months. At these relatively high values more than a few skeptics are predicting a fall. Some say correction – a temporary minor adjustment; some say crash – major problem ahead. Is there a reason to be acrophobic – fearful about markets at record heights?
Taking the Long View in a Short-Term World
Category: Investing
One of the primary roles we play as financial advisors is to help our clients remember to take the long-view.
April 12, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing
One of my favorite comedians has always been Steve Martin. One of his funnier routines was “let’s get small.” Lately small company stocks have been outperforming their large company counterparts and it’s hard not to notice. What is a small company and why the outperformance recently?
What a Difference a Year Makes
Category: Investing
On March 23, 2020, the S&P 500 tumbled another 3%, culminating a near 34% drop over that same month. The Dow Jones hovered around 19,000. Gains from the past few years were gone.
March 22, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing
Many indicators say the US and global economy are growing at rates faster than expected. Most of this is welcome news given the past 12 months. But is there a danger the economy could overheat? Inflation continues to be on the minds of some, should it be on yours as well?
YOLO, Meme, and EMH: What’s Your Investment Style?
Category: Investing
Guest Blogger, Marlena Lee, PhD. While it’s not the intended victim of the YOLO traders, will the efficient market hypothesis be a casualty of these events? The answer depends a lot on your definition of efficient markets.
It’s Worth the Trip!
We had completed our hike successfully, and the challenges made it more memorable and satisfying. The same is true for all of us as investors.
Selecting the Best Ingredients for Your Portfolio
Category: Investing
In this third piece of our series on building a better portfolio by thinking of it in terms of tastes, recipes, and ingredients, we’ll focus on the benefits of selecting better ingredients.
Is Your Portfolio Tailored to Fit Your Needs, or Just ‘Off-The-Rack’?
Category: Investing
While the alterations may be small and subtle, they make a big difference when it comes to comfort and fit. Our experience is better. For an investment thought experiment, think of the “off the rack suit” as the broad market; we simply take what we get off the shelf with no alteration. Now think of Foster Group as the tailor and the alterations as portfolio personalizations called factor allocations.
Keep Three Buckets in Your Retirement Boat
Category: Investing
One way to improve your investment experience is to walk through our lifeboat drill. Brad Rempe shares three 'buckets' to include.
Satisfying Your Tastes and Preferences for Investing and Dining
Category: Investing
If you were asked to describe what you liked about your favorite food, where would you start? If you were asked to describe what you would like in your investment portfolio, what would you emphasize?
The Future is Uncertain. Better to Prepare than Predict.
Category: Investing
Because I work for Foster Group, a firm dedicated to truly caring for the financial lives of those we serve, a lot of the conversations we have with regard to this uncertainty relate to money
Changing with My Aging
At age 30, I have time to recover from an extended market correction. But, what about when I approach retirement? How might my plan and asset allocation need to change?
Beyond Traditional Investments
Category: Investing
Are alternative investments right for you? Matt Moklestad shares some things to consider when looking into this asset class.
Beyond Traditional Investments Video
Category: Investing
Are alternative investments right for you? Matt Moklestad shares some things to consider when looking into this asset class.
Timing Isn’t Everything
Category: Investing
Attempting to buy individual stocks or make tactical asset allocation changes at exactly the “right” time presents investors with substantial challenges.
Markets Move. So Should You.
Category: Investing
The primary reason for portfolio rebalancing is to maintain the risk profile of the policy portfolio that the client has chosen. However, periodic rebalancing has the added benefit of ?buying low? and ?selling high?.
Being a Counterintuitive Investor – Do Stock Markets Follow GDP?
Category: Investing
It turns out GDP growth rates and stock market performance are not highly correlated in the way we would expect.