I believe the only way to judge the investment management of your assets is through analyzing your total returns: (1) adjusted for risk; and (2) net of all fees and expenses. Additionally, in this assessment, your returns should be evaluated ...

Tagged with: Money Management

As we approach the end of 2019 there is still time for some very important financial and investment planning items before the calendar turns to 2020. Here are a few to consider if you have not done so already: 1) ...

Tagged with: Money Management

Municipal bond funds offer several advantages to individual bonds. One powerful yet little understood advantage has to do with amortizing bond premiums, and results in higher after tax returns for fund investors versus individual bond investors. And in today’s environment ...

Tagged with: Money Management

Modern portfolio theory has been at the core of many investors’ decision-making process, with the focus being on the efficient market hypothesis. The theory is based on three basic assumptions: (1) the markets are efficient, (2) investors all have the ...

Tagged with: Money Management

I remember the days when a trip to the Dollar Store and a budget of $50 was all it took to make our small children shout out in delight when they woke up Christmas morning. As they got older, the ...

Tagged with: Money Management Victoria A. Hemiup

Returns on stocks and bonds have been quite impressive over the past 10 years ending Sept. 30, 2019. In fact, stocks (as measured by the S&P 500 Index) have had a total return just over 13% per year, while the ...

Tagged with: Daniel Lippincott Money Management

If you needed surgery, would you seek out the surgeon who charged the least? Would you trust your child’s care to the babysitter with the lowest hourly rate? If you are like me, the answer to these questions is a ...

Tagged with: Money Management

 Negative yielding bonds overseas, coupled with slowing growth due to the trade war with China and a dovish Fed, have pushed long-dated Treasury yields to historically low levels[1]. Investors searching for income have gravitated toward the defensive sectors of the ...

Tagged with: James Quackenbush Money Management

Interest rates around the world have declined to some of the lowest levels in my lifetime of 70-plus years. The 30-year U.S. Treasury was at its lowest yield ever in August[1] since being first issued in the mid-1980s. The long-term ...

Tagged with: Money Management

Later this month, the Federal Reserve meets to mull the future of short-term interest rates. If the Fed proceeds as the market expects, short-term rates will trend lower well into 2020. Faced with the prospect of low short-term rates, many ...

Tagged with: Christopher Raby Money Management

Year Outperformer 1985 Passive 1986 Active 1987 Passive 1988 Active 1989 Passive 1990 Passive 1991 Active 1992 Active 1993 Active 1994 Passive 1995 Passive 1996 Passive 1997 Passive 1998 Passive 1999 Passive 2000 Active 2001 Active 2002 Active 2003 Active ...

Tagged with: Charles T. Trible Money Management

On July 31 the Federal Open Market Committee cut the Federal Funds Rate range from 2.25%-2.5% by 25 basis points to 2%-2.25% (Source: https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/openmarket.htm). This marked the first cut in the face of nine rate hikes that started in December ...

Tagged with: Byron S. Sass Money Management