The first 100 Retirement Investment Workshop participants will get a complimentary paperback copy of Fighting Powerful Interests! (You can also get my free book right now on this blog as an eBook).
To register for the Saturday, April 16th workshop at UTLA headquarters, call Evy Vaughn, UTLA Conference Secretary (213) 487 5560 or register online by clicking “Learn More” below.
The next financial coming of age story has a frequent theme. Many people have money in different financial institutions, different banks, different mutual fund companies, different asset classes, sectors, or individual company stocks. Therese, my guest author, had little idea what, where and who was minding her money! Her money was so convoluted that a Rubik’s Cube was easier to solve. Soooooo, there is plenty of room for simplicity. Discover how Therese’s portfolio evolved from a complex and incoherent mess to a simple Vanguard portfolio after one visit with a fee-only financial adviser from Garrett Planning Network.
An epiphany is defined by “a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you.” Read this short story of my good friend’s financial epiphany and how all of her questions were answered by who she describes as an “independent financial adviser” she paid by the hour.
The first six weeks of the new year was a bust for the stock market. But in the seventh week something magical happened–it turned bullish. Oil prices went up and our Federal Reserve Board remarks on the status of the economy was neutral, along with a thousand other economic moving parts. I ignore all of the noise and stick with my planned portfolio allocation.
Hi UTLA Members!
My name is Steve Schullo, and I assume you are here because of my ad in the United Teacher newspaper (If not, that’s okay too). I am very excited you took the time and effort to come here. My blog is a topic that is rarely talked about in our educational circles: retirement planning using the district’s 403(b) and the newer 457(b).
You have read this incredible story. What can we learn?
In this post, I share in detail my Morningstar printouts at each of the four weeks in January 2016. You can see first-hand how volatile even my conservative portfolio can get. The news reported, ad nauseum, that the stock market was volatile, wondering if this was a start of a major and long lasting crash. Oil prices sank to ten-year lows, China’s economy stalled and everyone watched what the Federal Reserve was going to do next with interests rates. When oil prices rebounded from $28 per barrel, and Japan’s central bank lowered their interest rates with some folks saying that our Federal Reserve might ease our rate increases from 2 times this year instead of 4, by the end of January all the major stock and bond markets came roaring back. This recovery made a $50,000 loss in mid-January into a $20,000 loss by the end of January.
Part 2. Retired couples must have a financial conversation, ending with a plan in place before any health issues happen.
Over the years, my late husband Dan and I attended complimentary dinners offered by financial advisers, timeshares sales or travel agents. Everyone should be familiar with these sales experiences. They did not short-shrift on the dinners offered by these sales promotions. The meals were first class. Most of the time we attended a financial presentation, we dined with brand new widows who had no clue about their finances. Their late husbands did all of the financial management and they never told their wives anything. And to be fair to the knowledgeable spouse, some of these unfortunate widows were not interested in learning either. Today’s blog post addresses this lack of communication about finances. It is a story about a retired couple who did not plan far enough ahead to address serious problems while the husband was alive.
Today’s post is a follow-up to my previous post about my 2015 portfolio return. In the first weeks of 2016 the stock market had its worst beginning of the new year ever. That is a strong and historic statement. Is there anything we should be doing different? As long as you have a low-cost, diversified plan across all major asset classes and that the stock bond split is appropriate for your age and willingness to take risk, there is no reason to change your plan or to capitulate. In fact, it is not good to change your plan to a less risky portfolio while a crash is underway. Check out my portfolio during this current crash.