The media reported that the Dow’s plunge of 1100 points on Monday was the biggest point drop in history. While that sounds scary, keep in mind that media reports are intended to be dramatic. Put in broader perspective, the percentage drop (which is the more important measure) was 4.6%. That’s the biggest single day loss…
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Pardon me for paraphrasing a catch phrase from a ubiquitously marketed credit card. But were you aware that you actually have a lot of flexibility in terms of the investments you can choose to put into an IRA? Besides stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs, you can invest in real estate, gold bullion, and in…
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I was speaking with my friend Lisa the other day. She was upset that she had not gotten a better return on her investments in 2017. “Apple [stock] was up over 40%,” she complained, “but I only got 13%.” Ironically, this was the very same person who was panicking in 2009 about the 25% loss…
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As a follow up to my post a couple of weeks ago on the three biggest Bitcoin myths (see http://www.cognizantwealth.com/2017/12/15/the-three-biggest-bitcoin-myths/), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just warned investors about one more risk of which they need to be cognizant. Myth #4: Investing in Bitcoins is safe. The SEC last week recommended that investors…
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With the passage today of the Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Of 2017, CFPs and CPAs are already digging in to figure out the best new tax strategies that will enable clients to keep as much of their earnings and savings as possible. Even if Congress should shift to a Democratic majority in 2019, the…
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When the value of an investment suddenly soars, or collapses, it tends to get a lot of media coverage. In 2017 that investment has been Bitcoin. It started the year priced at $978, and as of the date of this writing is valued at more than $17,000. That’s an increase of over 1600% in less…
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As interest rates continue to hover at historical lows, many people (including some investment advisors) express concerns about investing in fixed income mutual funds. The issue – for those who are not familiar with bonds – is that when rates rise, bond prices fall, and vice-versa. The fear is that bond funds, which hold numerous…
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Ben Graham, mentor of Warren Buffett, is commonly credited as the father of value investing. His book The Intelligent Investor, first written in 1949, promotes the idea of investing only in companies with a high ratio of book value to market value. That is, companies whose total net asset value (the value of all assets…
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When asked in a Bankrate study in July, “What is the best way to invest money you wouldn’t need for 10 years or more,” 28% of millennials picked real estate and 23% chose cash. Only 17% favored stocks. This is the wrong way to build wealth. I’m not saying that real estate per se is…
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The year 2017 is shaping up to be one of the best years in a generation for international stock market investing. Jeff Kleintop at Charles Schwab points out that this is the only year in the 30-year history of the MSCI All Country World Index in which, at least through October, the global stock market…
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