When our 28-year-old daughter, Caitlin, was just four months old, my wife and I noticed she was running a fever. We had been parents for exactly four months and began to get nervous about it. We had no parents handy …
Bryan Zschiesche discusses the benefits of saving in your company’s retirement plan. If you’d like to learn more about how Financial Synergies can help you with your 401(k) or other retirement plans, please contact us.
If you haven’t reviewed your IRA beneficiaries in a while, you may find that the designated beneficiaries on your IRA are not who you intended them to be, especially if you have grandchildren. For instance, if you name your three …
One of the websites which is frequented by many of our clients and is thus on my radar is Yahoo! Finance. I admit that I regularly find myself worried that people may be derailed from their long-term investment strategy by …
On July 23, 2014 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finalized new regulations that change the way some money market funds (MMF) operate. Money Market Funds are simply the cash reserves portion of an investor’s brokerage account. They provide liquidity – many investors will …
Last month, Schwab launched two new online request tools known as eApprovals and eSignature. These new services are open to all of our clients, require Schwab Alliance online setup, and is backed by DocuSign®, the leading provider of digital signature …
Our 2nd quarter newsletter, featuring updates on the current state of the market, a mid-year recap of our portfolio, Schwab’s new technological advances with eSignature from DocuSign®, and understanding behavioral bias in investing.
Last week the Dow Jones (^DJI) topped the 17,000 mark with a gain of about 3.25% for the year. The markets have been on a tear for over three years with no significant downturn since the long forgotten technical correction …
We’ve spent a lot of time discussing money safety and how to be better at securing your online identity, financials, and overall internet and device setup. With the launch of the new Android platform Blackphone, I thought it would be …
We’re coming up on the half-way point for the year, so I thought it would be a good time to recap what’s been happening in the portfolios. All in all, it’s been a good year for all the major asset classes we …
In last week’s blog, Heath pointed out the tendency of people to base investment decisions on irrelevant facts or reference points. In the field of behavioral finance, this is known as anchoring. Heath provided a great example of anchoring: basing …
People are fascinating to me. You’d think that over thousands of years, the human brain would have evolved to become capable of making unbiased decisions as a means for survival. But based on James Montier’s book “Behavioral Investing” our brains …
Many of us amp up our travels in the summer (especially to escape this heat!), and money safety should be at the forefront of every decision made. While traveling domestically or internationally, you have to be concerned about theft in …
Last week, Bryan Zschiesche and I attended the Envestnet Tamarac 2014 Advisor Summit. We attended the various sessions and workshops in an effort to further our knowledge of the software and technological tools that this fantastic company provides to us. With …
Mike Minter and I are attending a conference this week in Chicago hosted by Envestnet Tamarac, the software provider of our rebalancing, reporting, and contact management programs. Our primary goal in attending the conference is to learn new ways to …
A couple of years ago, ING started a great marketing campaign to encourage people to start saving for retirement. The “What’s your retirement number?” slogan was undoubtedly derived from a common question that financial advisors hear from clients every day. …
Accessing your account information online isn’t for everyone, but there are some true benefits to being able to receive e-documents and not having to worry about your information traveling to your neighbor’s house by mistake. Below I’ve outlined some of …
As we have all experienced, time and repetition can cause us to take for granted things that others recognize as being extraordinary. During the past week, two new clients mentioned how impressed they were with the rebalancing strategy we employ, …
If you keep up with the financial news outlets, you’ve probably been exposed to the latest debates on high-frequency trading (HFT). In Michael Lewis’ new book, “Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt,” he says that the stock market is rigged. His …
Chart of the Month | Stocks vs. Bonds: More Choices for Investors as Bond Yields Rise