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What’s the best investment?

By Posted on In Investment Behavior, Investment Strategies, Retirement, Rule of Thumb, Uncategorized

In a recent Gallup poll, Americans were asked what they thoughts was the best investment to make over the long term. Their choices:

Real estate
Gold
Stocks
Savings Accounts
Bonds

The average American incorrectly believes that Real Estate is the best investment over the long term.

The following article presents a good argument for why Stocks may be the best investment over the long term. And I’m glad that they made note that investors should be shifting to lower risk assets the closer they get to retiring.

Less Than a Quarter of Americans Get the Most Important Investment Right

What Children Want to Talk to Their Grandparents About May Surprise You.

By Posted on In Retirement, Uncategorized

Children are looking to their grandparents for advice about saving money, according to a new study by TIAA-CREF and MIT’s AgeLab.

85% of the children interviewed were interested in talking more about money, saving and personal finance. Yet, only 8% of grandparents have such conversations.

The article in USA Today, outlined a few good ways to jumpstart the conversation:

  • Talk about how prices have changed in your lifetime.
  • Bring up savings at birthdays if the kids get a check or two.
  • Talk about the opportunities you’ve gotten (or maybe missed out on) through education.
  • Listen to their worries. Ninety-seven percent of young adults in the intergenerational study say they’re worried about saving.

Visit USA Today for the full story.

Now May Be The Best Time To Check Your Risk Tolerance

By Posted on In Investment Behavior, Investment Strategies, Retirement, Uncategorized

Is this the top of the market? If so, are you (and your investments) ready for the possible roller coaster that could follow?

That’s the gist of a recent WSJ article, and it’s not bad advice to consider.

Investor’s appetite for risk is constantly changing.  When the market is bullish (like it is right now) investors want to maximize their returns and are willing to take on more risk.  Yet, as soon as the market turns sour, investors want to limit their risk and move to something “safer”.

That knee-jerk reaction can often end up hurting the investor in the long run. They end up buy and selling at the wrong time.

It’s better to take time now for investors to imagine how they would feel if there was a 5% or 10% drop in the market.  Would they stay calm and stay the course or would they be looking to move to more conservative investments?

If you haven’t thought about that, take some time now to consider what you would do.

Of course, we can help guide you.

Why The Big Mac Index May Affect Your Decision to Travel Abroad

By Posted on In Economy, Rule of Thumb, Saving, Uncategorized

At first it sounds silly; use the cost of McDonald’s Big Mac to gauge purchasing power in different countries. What first started as a humorous approach to addressing the pricing discrepancies between countries for similar goods, has been taken more and more seriously by economists.

See for yourself which countries have the cheapest Big Mac, an indication that your dollars will go further.

Anecdotal evidence based on my experiences abroad is inline with these findings. I felt like I was getting more value in certain countries – After travelling through parts of Turkey, I discovered that I spent much, much less than I budgeted. While a trip to Europe ended with a blown budget.

Before my next trip, I will use the Big Mac Index to help create my travel budget.