Recently, I received a gift from the Iowa State Patrol in the form of a speeding ticket. In reflecting on this experience, it occurred to me that I took an unnecessary risk to attain something I didn’t need and ended up sacrificing money I didn’t have to lose.
As the NCAA tournament wraps up, many sports fans are reflecting on their brackets, winning their office pools, and bragging rights with friends. Similarly, others focus on their investments and trying to predict which stocks will perform the best. We may think of these as two separate worlds, but there are numerous similarities between the two.
Risks can often feel much different to retirees. The overarching risk for retirees is that something takes place that results in a permanently lower standard of living. Retirement researcher, Wade Pfau, has identified three major categories of risk for one’s income in retirement.
Homes are commonly thought of as investments. It’s easy to see why. For most of us, it’s the single biggest thing on our balance sheets for years.
If you are a client of Foster Group and have met with your advisor recently, you may have discussed what’s important to you, what we are planning for as it relates to your goals, and what you hope to achieve.
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.
Index funds are popular investment tools for good reason. They are low cost, effective ways to capture market return. Choosing to use index funds is only half the battle though; you must use them correctly to truly benefit.
Sometimes headlines are right, but remember they are created to get your attention, not necessarily to provide you with helpful information.
