The Process of the Tender Offer

The stock market is a place where buyers and sellers congregate to trade. Usually, when you sell shares, you can just click sell and the broker will match a buyer on the other side and vice versa when you buy shares. However, there may be a special occasion where a buyer will contact you directly with a proposal in the mail, stating that you can sell your shares through a tender offer.

The Importance of a Solid Budget

One of the most common deficiencies I find in people’s financial household is a solid budget. An outline of your expected monthly expenses, as compared to the income you expect to receive. This surprises me because of how important a budget is to your overall financial plan. I often find that people have a ballpark idea of what they spend, but when asked to identify exactly what they spend on specific goods and services, they very seldom can pinpoint these expenses. Today I will provide you with a budget outline and a way to get on track with your monthly cash flow.

“We are going to have a good year!”

Do you own shares of stock in the company you work for? Do they make up your entire 401(k) or just some of your “play money”? I’m amazed at the amount of clients and prospects I meet with that have a significant portion of their portfolio invested in their company’s stock. Familiarity and ‘insider knowledge’ seem to be the top reasons the hold the positions. They quickly forget stock picking is nearly impossible and even those with the greatest level of knowledge get it wrong.

Not All ETFs Are Created Equal

Although exchange traded funds (ETFs) provide an effective and easy way to gain exposure to different asset classes or sectors, not all of them are the same. ETFs that are created to track the same sector, related indexes, and even the same index will vary in performance because of a variety of different factors. As ETFs gain even more popularity and as more varieties such as actively managed ETFs come onto the scene, it is becoming increasingly more important to recognize the differences between these funds.

Gold Rush

I recently wrote about how Cash was Today’s Hottest Investment. I made this assumption based off the billions of dollars investors are adding to cash accounts (checking, saving, and money market) and removing from equity funds. This is a great way to track investor behavior. Although cash seems to be where investors are moving money, I hear the most questions about Gold.

Employee Stock Options

Employee stock options have been a hot topic recently due to Facebook’s filing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Employees of Facebook reportedly own about 30% of Facebook from the stock options they have been issued over the years. Based on the most recent valuations 30% of Facebook is worth about $30 billion and analyst predict over 1,000 Facebook employees will become millionaires when Facebook goes public. Even if you weren’t lucky enough to get in on the ground floor of a multi-billion dollar company like Facebook there is still a good chance you have been granted stock options at some point in your career if you have worked for a publicly traded company. We often have clients ask us what they should do with the stock options they have been granted and how the process of exercising them works.

Is your financial advisor a fiduciary?

Over the last several years there has been a lot of focus on providing investors with a higher degree of protection by increasing the oversight of industry regulators. One very important term that sets advisors apart, is whether or not they are considered to be a fiduciary.

Divorce and Retirement

A divorce attorney recently shared this joke with me:

Shortly after celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, Bob and Mary file for divorce. When their friends ask why they waited so long, they reply, “We were waiting for the kids to be dead.”

What can I say; divorce attorneys aren’t known for their sense of humor. However, the joke brings to light an interesting trend that has emerged over the past couple of decades – couples divorcing later in life, also called, “gray divorce.” Marriage has typically been considered a lifetime commitment, but with the average life expectancy more than 30 years longer than it was a century ago, a lifetime is proving to be too long for a growing number of seniors. From 1990-2009, the divorce rate for those over the age of 50 doubled.

Time to hit the books

“You can blame the corrupt markets, evil hedge funds, or the big bad banks for your financial woes. You can even blame yours truly. Off-loading the blame may feel good at the time but it’s not going to build up your IRA or send your kids to college. Your finances are your responsibility and the best way to protect and grow your money isn’t a hot stock tip; it’s education.” I recently read this in an article on Breakout, a financial blog located on Yahoo.com and I couldn’t agree more.

Simple Resolutions for the New Year

With the each New Year we reflect upon the challenges we faced during the previous year while making resolutions for the next. Many of these resolutions I hear from family and friends are often either financial or health related goals as these seem to be the two areas in our lives that always seem as though they could be improved. I think the problem with most of the resolutions I hear made this time of year is that they are far too ambitions and often never end up being fulfilled. With this in mind I’ve compiled a list of simple financial do’s and don’ts for the coming year that can help you get your finances in order.