Every time I’ve talked with someone about their investment portfolio recently, the subject of owning bonds or bond funds has inevitably come up. Most of the time, the conversations about the fixed income (bond) portion of their accounts has been less than hopeful. And the cynicism/pessimism hasn’t been coming from me… Continue reading “What’s All the Fuss About Bonds Being a Lousy Investment?”
Last week, I discussed some of the advantages of investing in direct real estate for retirement. Of course, there are downsides to it too. Here are some of the challenges would-be real estate investors will face:
Continue reading “The Challenges of Real Estate Investing”
Does more choice offered through a self-directed brokerage window lead to better asset allocation for 401(k) participants? Based on what I’ve seen over the past few weeks, I’d have to say no. Having almost unlimited investment options can sound appealing to some employees, but unfortunately in many cases the employees are not putting in the time and effort they need to manage their accounts. Continue reading “The Risks of the Self-Directed 401(k) Brokerage Window”
I would love to write about my favorite flavor of ice cream (Ben & Jerry’s Karmel Sutra) or other favorite foods (too many to list, which is why it would be fun to write about it), but I’m having trouble finding a way to make a connection into the financial world. I just got done watching the Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate,” so forgive me for the food references. While watching that, I happened to be reading an article in a financial journal at the same time (is that multi-tasking or A.D.D.?) about features that are available today in 401(k) plans that weren’t widely available 10 years ago. They listed things like auto-enrollment and a cap on the percentage of company stock allowed in the plan, as well as a few others. The one that really stood out to me as something that, if I could wave a magic wand and get everyone to enroll in I’d do it in a second, is the automatic rebalancing feature. Why do I like this feature so much? Well, I’ve seen it work as a means of managing your investment risk. I’ll use an example to illustrate my point. Continue reading “One of My Favorite “New” Features of 401(k) Plans”
