Have you heard this quote from Einstein? “Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.” No? That’s okay because he actually never said it. It’s one of those quotes that financial folks like me repeat because it sounds good and makes us look smart. That’s okay, though. Just because Einstein didn’t actually say…
Read MoreRemember when we talked about the two ways to make money as an investor? Come on! It wasn’t that long ago, was it? The two ways are: (1) The value of the investment goes up (2) Income So if you buy a house for $100,000 and it goes up to $125,000, that $25,000 is growth,…
Read MoreWhy your 10% return is bad and why your -5% return is great If you finish a game of bowling, you can see your score. After you take the SAT, you see how you did. If you invest, you can see what return you got. Simple. But it’s not quite that simple. If I told…
Read MoreDo you know what would be really cool? If we had just one kind of retirement account with simple rules for putting money in and taking it out. Keep dreaming! We don’t. We have so many different kinds of retirement accounts – all with crazy ridiculous rules, half of which you wouldn’t even believe if…
Read MoreYou’ve learned about all kinds of fees and expenses you may pay as an investor, but there’s still one more. And this is a popular one. These are Assets Under Management fees (also called “AUM”). Again, this last type of fee is also pretty common. Financial planners and investment advisors may help you determine your…
Read MoreWell, isn’t this your lucky day! We get to talk about how to triple your money in less than a month with a no-risk secret strategy. What’s that? It doesn’t exist? So, now what? Well, it looks like I won’t be sharing that secret, but I have something just as exciting. I’m going to talk…
Read MoreLet’s play “complete the word.” We know it’s a bad word. We know it starts with “f.” We know it has four letters. We know this course is rated PG-13. So that must mean the word is: FEES. Yup, fees. Those nasty buggers that strip away your hard-earned money. The bad news is they are…
Read MoreHow will you possibly handle the ups in the market? This is kind of a trick question. Those stressful days, weeks, and months where you look at your accounts and they just keep going up, and all you can think of is all the money you are making? How will you handle this? Therapy? Of…
Read MoreYou are now an expert on risk tolerance! Congratulations. But who cares? As the familiar saying goes, “You can’t pay your rent with risk tolerance.” Well, now, maybe you can. Let’s look at an example of two people: Clueless Karen and Insightful Irene. Clueless Karen has never heard of risk tolerance and is definitely not…
Read MoreInvesting. You buy some stocks and mutual funds and watch your money grow like this over time. This is not what happens though. This is more like what happens. What does this represent? This shows the value of your portfolio, or maybe just a stock or mutual fund. Basically, it shows how the prices of…
Read More