Financial Soothsayers’ Forecasts Fell Short For 2024 Paul K. Fain, III, CFP® Let’s have a little fun at someone else’s expense. What do fortune-tellers, tea leaves and Ouija boards have in common? Their predictions are more accurate than Wall Street forecasts. As one financial writer puts it, “Annual stock market forecasts are a sad,…
Year-end Economic Review Presents No Immediate Causes for Concern Paul K. Fain, III, CFP® In the year-end retrospective, our stockings were stuffed with a combination of oranges, walnuts and coal. In other words, life sometimes brings us a lump of coal, but we usually can find simple blessings to be grateful for. For instance, we…
How to Adjust Financial Plans In a Time of Challenges Paul Fain, CFP® “Sell crazy someplace else. We’re all stocked up here.” (Jack Nicholson in the movie “As Good as It Gets”). I decided to watch a recording of the recent presidential debate. It got crazy! Especially when two very grown men, vying for…
Spending Plans Get ‘Loud’ Thanks to Social Media Paul Fain, CFP® A friend’s 25-year-old daughter recently asked me if I had heard of “loud budgeting.” I confessed unfamiliarity with the term but discovered it has been drawing a lot of attention on social media. According to CNET Money’s website, “Loud budgeting is a financial strategy that puts…
Forecasting Failed Investors in 2023 Paul Fain, CFP® “We’ve long felt that the only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune tellers look good,” said the world’s most famous long-term investor, Warren Buffett. To his point, last year, the forecasters from banks, brokerage firms, mutual fund companies, and the government missed their market predictions…
War is emotional, but rarely impactful on company profits Paul Fain, CFP® There is a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The loss of life is tragic and disturbing. And it is OK to wonder, “What does this mean for my investments?” Our financial planning firm recently hosted a current events webinar with Apollo Lupescu, Ph.D., vice president…
Here’s how to keep your focus on the big picture during unsteady times Paul Fain, CFP® Here we are in 2022 and the world seems like a crazy place (again)! Armies on the move. Consumer prices reaching decade highs. The coronavirus pandemic continuing to impact our daily lives. What should be your next decision…
Balancing Act: Interest Rates Paul Fain, CFP® “What are your IRAs paying?” asked my mother-in-law. Being extremely risk-adverse, and 93-years-old, she was referring to the prevailing interest rates on an IRA bank account or an IRA annuity. However, as I politely discussed with her (as she was preparing her famous beef stew), it is…
A look back at the shaky financial predictions in this wild year Paul Fain, CFP® Is it a Christmas miracle? Did the financial forecasters get it right in 2021? Well, Santa should probably have given coal to most of the pundits and prognosticators. For instance, one of the largest banking institutions predicted a 5% return…
Want results from your investments? Don’t get emotional | Paul Fain, CFP® Famed investor Benjamin Graham once said, “The investor’s chief problem, and even his worst enemy, is likely to be himself.” DALBAR, a financial market research firm, conducts an annual study of investor behavior. With 25 years of data, the study’s conclusion is frighteningly…