At mid-year, how are your investments doing and what should we expect for the remainder of the year? Certified Financial Planner Paul Fain reviews your portfolio. PAUL, LET’S START WITH STOCK INVESTMENTS…HOW DID THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR GO? 7% U.S. Large Companies: The widely-quoted S&P 500 index of large company stocks rallied…
What if you could post some “Rules for Financial Success” on your refrigerator…what would those rules be? Well, our moneyman, Certified Financial Paul Fain has some ideas. PAUL WHAT IS THE FIRST RULE FOR SUCCESS THAT WE ARE GOING TO POST ON THE FRIDGE? Things to avoid at all costs! NO market timing NO…
With summer travel in high gear, what are the best travel reward credit cards for 2018? HOW DO YOU BEGIN TO EVALUATE A CREDIT CARD FOR TRAVEL BENEFITS? If you are selecting a new card ask, “What is the card’s ‘total value?’” Welcome bonus? Points earned after reaching minimum spending level (ex: $3,000). Travel…
Featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel: June 19, 2018 Recently, I have been having mixed feelings about social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, i.e., what are the positive and negative contributions to my overall well-being? On the positive side, it is often uplifting to follow current events in the lives of friends and family members (births,…
Fun Facts about Stock Ownership Owning shares of stock in a company makes you an owner of that company and some companies treat their shareholders like real owners – giving them discounts and rewards on products and services. HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SHAREHOLDER PERKS… Kimberly Clark and 3M: Gift boxes with an…
The fate of our Medicare and Social Security benefits are back in the news with the program’s annual report released June 5th. The news isn’t great but a crisis can be avoided. WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THESE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS? Medicare’s finances were downgraded: the Medicare insurance fund will be depleted in 2026, earlier…
Interest rates are an important part of everyone’s lives! Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve (“the Fed”) began to gradually increase key interest rates in December 2015 from a record low of near zero. The expectation is that the Fed will continue raising rates in 2018 and 2019 (See Fed Chart.) On the…
Han Solo is back on the big screen this summer but here on the small screen, our moneyman Paul Fain has FIVE Star Wars lessons for becoming a Financial Planning Jedi. I GUESS WE HAVE START WITH…“MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU” Exactly! The Force encompasses everything. Likewise, a good financial plan is HOLISTIC,…
Featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel: May 29, 2018 How much is enough? Obviously, it is a subjective question. Enough to just get by? Or enough to be “comfortable?” According to a 2017 Charles Schwab survey, respondents said they would be financially comfortable with $1.1 million. But really, when it comes to personal financial planning,…
On Memorial Day we honored the fallen heroes that have served and sacrificed for our country. How was our economy influenced by military conflict? STARTING WITH WORLD WAR II (1941-45), HOW DID IT IMPACT OUR ECONOMY AND AMERICAN FAMILIES? World War II pulled us out of the Great Depression. American industry was revitalized by…