I was back on the East Coast for a couple of weeks. The humidity was on full display. Who needs a sauna when you have 90% humidity? But allow me to digress.
I was back on the East Coast for a couple of weeks. The humidity was on full display. Who needs a sauna when you have 90% humidity? But allow me to digress.
If you live in California, you now have the right to put a “security freeze” on your credit file. A security freeze means that your file cannot be shared with potential creditors. A security freeze can help prevent identity theft. Most businesses will not open credit accounts without first checking a consumer’s credit history. If your credit files are frozen, even someone who has your name and Social Security number would probably not be able to get credit in your name.
This easy to follow ‘how to’ link includes sample letters specific to California residents as well as toll free numbers to all three credit reporting bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union.
It’s hard to predict what the economy will look like two, five or ten years from now. It’s even harder to predict what the stock and bond markets will look like down the road. So with all that uncertainty, it’s better to focus on what you do have control over vs. what you have zero control over.
And that brings me to the “number”. By the number, I’m referring to the amount of wealth you need to accumulate by the time you’re ready to retire and stop working for money. I believe this number is vitally important to not just your financial well being, but to your overall well being as well.
You may have noticed the vast amount of new products being churned out by Wall Street lately. Now I’m all in favor of more options, yet the amount of new “products” being introduced to investors on a daily basis is staggering. Besides regular old fashioned mutual funds, stocks and bonds, we now have a slew of ETF’s, ETN’s, ishares, global ETF’s, brand new sector funds, and the list goes on. The marketing departments of these large investment houses are well aware that investors like the shiny new objects in the window and as such are catering to our need for buying something new and exciting. Index funds, diversifying your portfolio is so 2008 they’ll tell you, come over here and play the new game…
I like ETF’s and for many investors, they compliment your investment portfolio very nicely. But just because the marketing departments have sliced and diced markets into a zillion new ways to invest, doesn’t mean that it’s the right option for you.
Below are some top five listings that may be of interest to you. This is purely for educational purposes and does not constitute a recommendation to buy. As always, do your own research before making any decisions. The results below are year to date for 2009:
Top 5 Performing Vanguard Mutual Funds:
Is this a bear market rally we’re witnessing in the stock market or the beginning of a stock market recovery? Do I get back into the market now or wait a little longer? If I do get back in, what do I buy?
These are just a few of the many questions I’ve been asked recently. After the recent drubbing we received from the stock market crash, these are not decisions to be made lightly.
I have an old friend that loves to gamble. His game is blackjack and he actually wins quite often. He was a math and physics whiz in college and believes he has the advantage in any casino he enters. That said, he does have one particular old habit that causes him to lose and lose big at times. If he’s on a losing streak, he’ll keep doubling down in order to make up for the losses he has incurred.
At times, I have watched him lose spectacular amounts of money with this strategy. So what does this have to do with financial planning and investing? Allow me to share with you what I see happening at the moment.
As I was asking a new client to describe her earliest memory around money, she started recalling how her parents dealt with money. She remembered how often they disagreed about managing their money, how often she remembers hearing her Dad say how “you kids are going to drive us into the poor house”. She grew up in Long Island and was raised in a Irish Catholic family with 9 kids. There was a constant sense of scarcity in her life and that feeling of never having enough stayed with her as adult and permeated her relationship with money in many ways that were unconscious. At the current age of 58, and by all intents and purposes, very well off financially, she still feels, after all these years, that if she’s not careful, she’ll wind up in the “poorhouse”.
The reason I bring this story up is to remind all the parents reading this post of how powerful your words and actions are when it comes to your relationship with money. What you say, or sometimes what you don’t say about money is being recorded by your kids for future use. How you spend, save and earn money as well as how you talk about it has a huge impact on your children’s future relationship with money.
With the stock market finally showing us some love after a brutal 8-9 months of wild rollercoaster rides, it’s easy to slip into old habits and trick yourself into thinking the good old days are around the corner. As President Obama said today, there are glimmers of hope that the economy may be turning a corner. Add to the mix a general consensus form many leading economists that the recession may end in September and you have a positive outlook for the future.
If you’ve been saving money, maybe for the first time in a while, but you sense the stock market is headed back up so you’ll take it easy and put your newly found saving habit on hold, please reconsider. If you have been flexing your frugal muscle and now with some good news from the market you’re feeling that familiar pull to spend, stop, think about what you’re spending the money on, is it a need or a want, can you live without it for now, and then go back to saving more.
