If you are in a relationship, are you on the same page when it comes to finance? No?…read on! I recently watched an old episode of How I Met Your Mother, in which Lily was hiding a massive amount of credit card debt from her husband. He didn’t know until they applied for a mortgage. …
Financial Planning
DIY Investing
DIY Investing I recently heard a great analogy that aligns well with the topic of DIY investing—consider the process of changing your car’s oil. While you could learn to do it yourself and save some money, it can be messy and mistakes can happen, as my husband discovered years ago when oil dripped on his …
Hidden Costs – No Cost Trading
Hidden Costs Last year, Charles Schwab announced that they were reducing trading fees to zero, and Ameritrade, E*TRADE and Fidelity shortly followed. Hooray, free trades! But hold on are there hidden costs in no cost trading? For consumers of these companies, however, there really is no free lunch. It is important to look to see …
The F Words of Finance
There are a lot of F words, especially in the world of finance. Fiduciary, Finance, Financial Advisor, etc. But none of those are my favorite F word. My favorite is “Female Financial Planner”. Ha, you thought I was going to pick a different F word, didn’t you? I also like “french fries.” It can be …
ESG OR SRI Investing?
ESG OR SRI Sometimes you hear the phrase, “put your money where your mouth is,” meaning, use your dollars towards things you really are passionate about. If this matters to you, then you might be interested in ESG or SRI investing. ESG stands for Environment, Social, and Governance. SRI stands for Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact. …
Target Date Funds
The Target Date Fund For the past several years, our financial advisors have helped to manage several 401(k) plans for small to medium size businesses. And though I discussed 401(k)s and Roth 401(k) and how they work, I haven’t yet addressed what should you invest your 401(k) account IN…? This blog isn’t designed to tell …
Diversifying Your Investments
Diversifying Your Investments Previously, I talked about diversification with stocks and bonds. Remember, the goal of diversifying your investments is to smooth out your ride – you want to have several different types of asset classes to manage the ups and downs of your account. Even amongst stocks and bonds, there are still more ways …
Volatility in the Market
Volatility in the Market Wow, the markets have sure had a bumpy ride lately! Unfortunately, this is all par for the course with the history of the stock market. We are coming off several years of growth in the markets, and volatility is back, baby. It is important to remember not to make decisions based …