More Evidence Stock Picking Doesn’t Work

More Evidence Stock Picking Doesn’t Work

When it comes to equity investing, the difference between luck and skill is primarily a matter of consistency. If you choose to invest in a fund or ETF designed to passively track some stock market index you are practically guaranteed to get market returns. Of course you need to make sure to utilize funds that…
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Four Reasons To Avoid A Roth Conversion

For those unfamiliar with the term, a Roth conversion involves moving money from a tax-deferred traditional IRA (IRA) to a tax-free Roth IRA (Roth). You’ll pay taxes on the amount transferred but from that point on the amount will grow tax-free for the rest of your life (and even for ten years of a subsequent…
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New Research On Social Security Claiming Strategies

I’ve written numerous articles over the years about strategies for maximizing your Social Security (SS) benefits. But the number one decision all retirees face is when to start taking payments. Which is better: to start as early as possible or to delay benefits for as long as you can? There will always be claimants who…
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Whose Fault Was The SVB Collapse?

Any disaster – be it a plane crash or a nuclear plant meltdown – is subsequently found to be caused by multiple failures. The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) demise is no different. Who is to blame and what does this mean for the safety of your money in your bank or brokerage account? Here’s my…
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Seven Misperceptions About Taxes

Since tax payment season is just around the corner, I thought I’d share some common misperceptions about your federal taxes. Getting refunds is better than owing taxes. False. A refund is nothing more than a zero-interest loan you made to the government. It’s better to owe them money. But not too much. If you owe…
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The Ten Worst Days Ever In The Stock Market

We usually talk about stock market performance on a yearly basis. And last year’s -18% S&P 500 loss was nothing to write home about. But during bad years daily volatility can also spike. In 2022 the index’s worst day was September 13th when it fell -4.3%. How does that one-day loss stack up against the…
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