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An Under-Invested America: Is Conservative The New Norm?

March 1, 2012 by Jon

Fortunes aren’t made being conservative.  Nobody has gotten rich earning less than 1% on their money.  Yet more money has been put into savings accounts than into stock and bond funds, since the market crash of ’08.  This may sound like a good thing.  At first glance it looks as though people are building up their emergency funds.  A great sign of financial responsibility, if it were only true.

The first 11 months of 2011, retail investors put over $900 billion into savings accounts.  During the same period only $109 billion was investing into stock and bond funds.  Putting money into a mattress is never a good idea, but expecting to reach financial goals earning less than 1% is just as bad.

A look at the chart below shows how extremely different the amounts of money saved and invested have become since the ’08 crash.  Which isn’t that surprising really.  The fact that the numbers haven’t returned to a more normalized setting after four years should be questioned. Continue Reading…

What Investment Strategy Should You Use?

February 28, 2012 by Jon

Investment StrategyPeople are constantly on the lookout for the perfect investment strategy.  The Holy Grail of constant profitable returns.  Unfortunately, no strategy is perfect in the sense that it will guarantee returns.  In fact, I’ll argue that only having one strategy limits your ability to invest profitably.

Currently, investment strategies are a popularity contest.  The strategy with the best returns last year or the one most recently written about, tends to get the most attention.  Good for the strategy and book publishers, but is it best for new investors just starting out?  Hardly, because what works for me may not work for you.  Instead, it should come down to your comfort level, knowledge (hopefully), time, and your financial situation. Continue Reading…

Happy Hour: Dow 13,000, Million Mustache March and Shoe Bling

February 24, 2012 by Jon

It’s Happy hour time again.  TGIF and all that.  So sit back, relax and check out some interesting reads I’ve come across this week.

Dow 13,000

A big psychological milestone was reached on Tuesday when the Dow climbed above 13,000 for the first time since 2008.  Now we just need it to close above 13,000 which might happen today.  Up next 14,000, which we haven’t seen since 2007.  Just a gut feeling, but when that happens the market will be off to the races with the next big bull market.

Million Mustache March

Proof of how screwy our tax system is, the STACHE Act is being pushed by the American Mustache Association as a way to benefit the economy.  So the AMI is asking for a law to be passed that would give up to $250 in tax refunds for Mustached Americans and promoting it with a Mustached March on Washington in April. Continue Reading…

Betterment Review: Simple Investing For Everyone

June 14, 2019 by Jon

Betterment DashboardLet’s face it, investing is complicated, time-consuming, and just scary sometimes, especially when it’s looked at for the first time and Betterment believes it has the answer to these problems.

The typical brokerage firm can be downright intimidating for new investors and too costly for an experienced investor. A Betterment account eliminates the intimidation, providing easy to use tools at a low-cost, all while maintaining a goal oriented, long-term approach to investing your money. It sounds like the perfect combination for the beginner and seasoned investor. But is it?

What Is Betterment?

Betterment is an investment service aimed at simplifying the process of investing your money. I’d classify it as an alternative brokerage. Like any normal brokerage account, you still invest your money in the stock market. Only Betterment does all the hard work of researching where to invest your money. I don’t know of a discount broker that does anything like it. Continue Reading…

The Payroll Tax Cut: What Are You Doing With Your 2%?

February 21, 2012 by Jon

Payroll Tax CutLast week both the House and Senate approved the payroll tax extension, sending it on to the president to sign into law.  Which will happen amid a bunch of hoopla and congratulations about how your elected leaders saved your wallets from the plight of emptiness.

The law, as it did last year, will extend the 2% reduction in the payroll tax that funds Social Security through the end of the year.  Which sounds great.  Who doesn’t want more money from their paycheck.

So what’s the point of the tax cut?  The government lets you keep 2% of your income in exchange for you to spend it.  The theory is that spending your 2% will help the economy grow more quickly. Sounds fair enough, except that money is supposed to be put towards retirement.  At least someone’s retirement with the inefficiency of the Social Security System.

The payroll tax cut is a terrible short-term fix that will only cause more problems down the road when the difference has to made up.  Which is the inherent flaw.  I don’t see any logic in spending retirement money before we retire.  But that’s the government in a nutshell. Continue Reading…

Happy Hour: Swimsuit Indicator, Aristocrats and How Did I Get Here Google?

February 17, 2012 by Jon

It’s happy hour again.  Time to kick back, relax and check out some of the more interesting things that came out this week.

The SI Swimsuit Indicator

Sports Illustrated released its annual swimsuit issue this week, with the big reveal of the cover model on the Late Show with David Letterman.  Wall Street’s need to analyze everything, has found the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Indicator.  Seriously?  The S&P 500 has performed better with an American on the cover than without 88.2% of the time, with an average return of 14.3%.

The Aristocrats

The royalty of Wall Street and many a portfolio, the Aristocrats list was also released by CNBC this week.  It’s a list of stocks, not people, so nothing to gawk at really.  Unless you are a fan of high quality dividend paying stocks.  You see, an Aristocrat is an S&P 500 stock that has consistently paid and raised its dividend every year for the last 25 years.  It’s a great place to start if you are looking for dividend stocks.

How Did I Get Here Google?

This site gets a few visitors from Google search every month. Continue Reading…

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