Have you heard the phrases retirement income, cash-flow investing or creating a retirement paycheck? These types of phrases are buzzing in the investing industry. There has been a shift from buying and holding stock to buying investments that can generate income for your portfolio.
How Too Much Information Can Make You a Worse Investor
In the modern digital era we have access to up to the minute information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Everything from stock quotes, news reports, sports scores, to weather half way around the world can be accessed in a matter of seconds from your smart phone. Information is a great tool, but in today’s digital era, too much data can also be impeding.
Is the Snider Method Right for You?
Deciding how you will use your retirement portfolio to create sustainable income when you are no longer willing or able to work is one the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make. But it is certainly not the easiest. At Snider Advisors, we are clearly biased, but we believe the Snider Investment Method® addresses the need for producing retirement income like no other investment approach, to date, has.
401k Funds: What’s the Difference?
If you have set up a 401k plan with your employer, you will notice that you cannot invest in everything available in the stock market. Typically you can only pick from a select list and allocate 100% of the contributions among them. The selections are limited because the 401k plan goes through an administrator, and each plan has a different list of investment vehicles available to the plan participants. To some, looking at the list and figuring out which funds to pick may seem as clueless as finding a light switch in a foreign room. By the end of this article, aligning its contents with your own financial situation will allow you to navigate the room as if it were your own.
You Lack BASIC Financial Knowledge
Thanks to the Dodd-Frank Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conducted a study of the existing level of financial literacy of retail investors. To no surprise to us at Snider Advisors, the study found most investors have “a weak grasp of elementary financial concepts.” This is the biggest reason we made financial education a critical component to our approach to investing. (If you are interested in the full report, you can find the 200+ page document here.)
The Investor Sentiment Wheel
Here is a great graphic outlining the emotional cycle investors struggle with year after year. When I discuss these factors with prospective clients most react by saying, “I’m smarter than that!”, “This time is different.”, or “That won’t happen to me.” You must first recognize your mistakes before you can avoid them in the future.
Two Strategies to Erase Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt can feel like a monster pounding at the front door, threatening to destroy any hope of a secure financial future. Although paying off your credit card accounts may seem overwhelming and can be challenging, there are steps you can take to help you accomplish this goal.
What is your investment ‘Plan B’?
A client recently asked a great question, “What is our ‘Plan B”? I think part of the question stemmed from the idea that if we aren’t reacting to the market and its changes, we are doing something wrong. Adjusting our investments or calling an audible in the middle of the process makes investors feel good. Just like nearly every other decision, the change is driven by emotions yet investors fail to realize it. After the change, they normally come out feeling the portfolio is much ‘safer’ now, or they can make a whole bunch more money. (Fear & Greed) Rarely will an investor go back and evaluate previous decisions to decide whether or not it was advantageous in the end.
Everyone likes to hate the market
People truly hate the stock market. Don’t believe me? Take a quick glance at a yahoo finance comment chain. You’ll undoubtedly see that current investor sentiment is filled with distrust, skepticism, and outright hatred of the entire capital market system. The common belief seems to be the fat cats of Wall Street are out to make a quick buck with no regard to how their decisions will impact the little guy on Main Street.
Things to be Nervous About
by Jesse Anderson, CFA What are you nervous about? – European Crisis – Chinese Economic Slowdown – Our November Presidential Election – Massive Budget Deficits – 16 Trillion in National Debt – High Unemployment Do I need to continue? Can your investment plan handle all these risks? Have you made the appropriate changes to handle what seems like an endless …
