What This Year Reminds Us About Fixed Income
This year has reminded us of the many important roles that fixed income can play in portfolios.
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.
September 27th, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Emerging Markets – What Are They?
Barbell Portfolios Can Be Hard To Hold On To
Barbells work great at the gym because they put weight on a bar in such a way that it’s balanced, leaving room in the middle for someone to use it to workout. We often see portfolios that are designed like a barbell at the gym: lots of risk in one account and lots of cash or very short-term securities in another. In aggregate, it might produce some balance, but the reality is that it can create some real challenges.
Spring Clean Your Financial Plan
You can’t have spring without spring cleaning. As you tackle your home, yard, and other spaces this year, your financial plan might also need to be spruced up. Here are a few tips to clean up your financial plan this spring.
How Much Should Associations Hold in Reserve Assets?
A common question among nonprofit associations is how much they should hold in reserve assets. There is a “rule of thumb” that associations should hold six months of operating expenses in reserve. Is this common rule of thumb common practice?
Nervous About the Market? Maybe You Need a Lifeboat.
Market volatility tends to unnerve even the calmest of investors. How do we know what to hold and how much to hold at any particular time? That’s a crucial question, but the answer does not need to be complicated.
Spring Clean Your Financial Plan
You can’t have spring without spring cleaning. As you tackle your home, yard, and other spaces this year, your financial plan might also need to be spruced up. Here are a few tips to clean up your financial plan this spring.
How Much Should Associations Hold in Reserve Assets?
A common question among nonprofit associations is how much they should hold in reserve assets. There is a “rule of thumb” that associations should hold six months of operating expenses in reserve. Is this common rule of thumb common practice?
Nervous About the Market? Maybe You Need a Lifeboat.
Market volatility tends to unnerve even the calmest of investors. How do we know what to hold and how much to hold at any particular time? That’s a crucial question, but the answer does not need to be complicated.
What to Do When the Market Is in a Bad Mood
When the going is good, we’re not all that concerned with asking or answering the question. It is when the going gets tough, like right now, that we find ourselves more interested in asking. So, “What should we do?”
Bear Markets and Life Jackets
For anyone invested right now, it feels like we’re sinking. But just as boats have lifejackets to keep you afloat, your financial life should have its own lifejackets in place to help keep you from sinking in bear market times like these.
Making the Most of a Bear Market
If you’re a young professional, negative market returns can carry less weight than you might think. Let’s use 2022 as an example.
Does Cash Look Better Than Stocks? | Financial Perspectives (In a Minute)
With interest rates as high as they've been in 15 years, some are asking, "Are stocks necessary, or even advisable, for investments today?" This week, Kent Kramer looks at how cash vs stocks have performed over the years and shares important lessons learned.
How Should an Investor Position Their Overall Investment Portfolio Now and in the Future?
Right after, “What will the stock market do next?” the positioning question may be the most asked and re-asked question by investors of all types.
Chart of the Month – July 2024
International Stocks – Are they necessary?
How Should a Nonprofit Allocate its Investment Portfolio?
Let's review two industry studies, the NACUBO Study of Endowments and the Association Investment Policies, Practices and Performance. Each organization is different and has its own set of unique goals and challenges. Although this is the case, learning how other nonprofits invest can help ignite a meaningful conversation within your own organization.
“My Portfolio is Doing Well / Poor Compared to What?”
Merriam Webster defines a benchmark as “something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or judged”. For investors, the question to ask is what should be my standard, my benchmark, in determining the success or failure of my overall investment portfolio?