PETE THE PLANNER: Hard financial times don’t have to be insurmountable
I’m not giving up on you or anyone else. Why? Because of the thousands of people who’ve rebuilt their financial lives right in front of my eyes over the last two decades.
Investing Column
Articles
HAHN: Doom and gloom, or opportunity and unity
At some point, the uncertainty will be resolved. The fear will be tougher to dampen.
PETE THE PLANNER: You can’t lose by preparing now for a slowdown
When times get tough, and some jobs get eliminated, it’s the people who have cash to pay the bills, as opposed to liquidating depleted retirement accounts, who will come out on the other side unscathed.
KIM: Buffett on coronavirus scare: ‘We certainly won’t be selling’
Nobody knows how long and far the coronavirus outbreak will go or how it will end. In a global economy, near-term cash flows will be hurt, but cash flows going out 10 or 20 years will not be.
PETE THE PLANNER: Don’t confuse putting things off with patience
There’s a giant difference between the two, and knowing the difference can save your financial life. Patience is strategic, if not pragmatic, while waiting is a gamble.
HAHN: Accumulation is easy, but distribution is hard
The challenge is to create a spending strategy that allows individuals to optimize spending over an uncertain time frame without depleting a portfolio.
PETE THE PLANNER: Think twice about offering to pay for college
Unless you have an ungodly amount of money, you need to define exactly what it means to “pay for their education.” That’s a much bigger and broader promise than most people know.
KIM: Coronavirus-fueled volatility your friend, not enemy
Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, found returns for the S&P 500 were positive (some strongly so) at 30, 60 and 90 days after the first U.S. case for the prior five viral outbreaks.
PETE THE PLANNER: Your portfolio might not be as diversified as you think
The goal of diversification isn’t just to spread your market risk across different companies, but to make sure the companies themselves are significantly different from one another, and even more important, complementary.
HAHN: Use these easy formulas to assess whether you’re ‘on track’
Every situation is different, but some objective measures can be used as a snapshot and tracked over time to measure progress.
PETE THE PLANNER: Get organized now for your eventual demise
I don’t know how many scenes are left and what plot twists are ahead, but I do know how this movie ends.
KIM: In football and investing, conventional wisdom is ‘just OK’
Whether you’re an NFL team trying to make it to the Super Bowl or an investor who wants to generate better-than-average long-term results, your odds of success are greater if you ignore conventional wisdom.
PETE THE PLANNER: Take a minute now to write down your 10-year financial goal
You and I are going to predict the value of our investment account balances on Dec. 31, 2029, then write these numbers down and leave ourselves a passive aggressive note to agonize over years from now.
HAHN: Don’t drift through your financial life—make a plan
I’m not a fan of new year’s resolutions, but I am a big fan of examining my life and what’s working and what could be improved.
PETE THE PLANNER: Turning 59-1/2? Give yourself a talk about discipline
Your retirement nest egg is always fragile. It doesn’t get less fragile once you gain access to it.
KIM: New tools help families weigh investment merit of college choices
As with any investment, price is what you pay, but value is what you get.
PETE THE PLANNER: Open wallet to help others, not just buy things
Investing in your community provides a deep expression of gratitude that is as fulfilling as it is impactful.
HAHN: Prepare for the holidays with ‘12 days of taxes’
Between all the holiday parties and batches of eggnog, there are some financial tasks to check off your list before Dec. 31.
PETE THE PLANNER: How to pick up the pieces if you lose your job
Whether you see it coming or not, hearing that your job is no longer your job is shocking.
KIM: Is WeWork the ‘canary in the coal mine’ for profitless ‘unicorns’?
When investors compete to give their capital to private companies, you get standards that are lowered at the same time valuations are raised, a recipe for disaster.