How to Determine When It’s Time to Sell Investments Paul Fain, CFP® We have quite a bit of deferred maintenance due at our home (painting, replacing windows, carpentry, etc.). To get some projects going, should we borrow the money, use some of our cash reserves, or sell an investment? I really do not want to…
What Is an Investment Anyway? Paul Fain, CFP® According to Investopedia, “An investment is an asset or item acquired with the goal of generating income or appreciation.” You can invest in a business, stocks, bonds, real estate, oil, cash, crops and more. Fundamental investments are oriented around ownership (stock), lending (bonds), and cash equivalents (money…
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…
More Often Than Not Diversification Is an Investor’s Friend Paul Fain, CFP® I recently read an opinion piece that was lambasting diversification as “diworsification” (a play on words borrowed from legendary Fidelity stock manager Peter Lynch). Warren Buffett said “Diversification is protection against ignorance. It makes little sense if you know what you are doing.”…
The Media We Follow Affect Our Investment Behavior Paul Fain, CFP® Are you investing under the influence? That is, under the influence of the media? Last week, I attended a thought-provoking presentation titled “How Your Media Diet Informs Your Perspective on Markets, Investing, and Wealth,” by Carson McLean, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™️ professional and regional…
Now’s a Good Time to Add Bonds to Your Portfolio Paul Fain, CFP® For the last several years, with short-term interest rates close to zero, bonds have been the Rodney Dangerfield of the investment world: “I get no respect!” However, since March 2022, the Federal Reserve has lifted interest rates 11 times. This hit bond…
When to be a Contrarian Investor Paul Fain, CFP® As an investor, do you follow the crowd or march to your own beat? If more the latter, you might be a contrarian: “A person who opposes or rejects popular opinion.” When is it appropriate to be a contrarian investor? When markets are experiencing extreme highs…
Uneasy Investors Should Focus On What They Can Control Paul Fain, CFP® Current events remind me of a rip current at the beach. Once swept into it, you have two choices: 1) fight against the undertow and risk a bad outcome; or 2) go with the flow until you are carried to calmer, more predictable…
How did Financial Predictions for 2022 Fare? Paul Fain, CFP® “Forecasting is difficult because it concerns the future,” goes an old Danish proverb. What makes forecasting so unreliable? The unknown. At the beginning of last year, we didn’t know that Russia would invade Ukraine, that China’s stringent zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy would strangle its economy, that…
For Some, Bonds are Like a Horror Movie Paul Fain, CFP® This year feels like watching a horror movie in the bond market. Van Helsing (the Federal Reserve) is combating Dracula (inflation), trying to put a stake (interest rate increases) through the cash-flow sucker’s heart. Only eight months into these aggressive rate increases, it is…