Retirement Investing
Bob Carlson offers his expert opinion on where to invest your money so that you can get through retirement safely and securely
Found 846 Articles.
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Investment Strategies for a Sluggish Market
The markets across the board have had corrections. The first quarter of 2005 was the worst quarter in two years for the S&P 500. Investors’ problems for the quarter did not end with the big company stocks that make up that index. My database of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds showed negative returns in March […]
Hedge Funds for the Little Guy
Our diversified portfolio of alternative mutual funds continues to do its job. We designed it to deliver solid long-term returns without the volatility of the stock market indexes. That is what we are getting. Long-time readers know that the Alternative Portfolio is a collection of mutual funds that use investment strategies similar to those used […]
How to Handle a Tough Market
Stocks packed a substantial correction into the first two weeks of January. Most indexes and sectors absorbed significant declines both in absolute terms and when compared to their 2004 gains. The S&P 500 gave up 25% of its 2004 gains in the following two weeks. The transportation index saw 17% of its substantial 2004 returns […]
How Pension Payouts Are Affected By Interest Rates
The prospect of rising interest rates this year could affect retirement payouts. If your retirement plan offers a choice between an annuity and a lump sum and you were planning to retire in the next year or two, pay attention now. Lump sum payouts increase as interest rates fall and decrease as rates rise. The […]
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Estate Planning: New Looks in 529 Plans
States are making big changes in their 529 college savings plans. These are the tax-advantaged plans that help people save for the education expenses of their children or grandchildren, or anyone else for that matter. Numerous forces caused the changes. It has been pointed out, in this newsletter especially, that after the 2003 tax law […]
Growth Strategies for a Flat Market
Have you earned 0% or even lost money on your investments over the last five years? Most investors aren’t as fortunate as we have been. The major stock indexes are about where they were five years ago. Anyone who follows the conventional buy-and-hold index investing strategy has no net gains or modest losses to show […]
Dangers of the Private REIT
Real estate investment trusts have been important parts of our portfolios. Cohen & Steers Realty Shares has outperformed the S&P 500 for the last 10 years, for each of the last four full years, and so far in 2004. Unfortunately, the good news about real estate and REITs is being used to entice investors, especially […]
Navigating Troubled Markets
Fear stalks the markets these days. The last few months we gradually added protection against such a surge in investor pessimism. Those moves served our portfolios well in the recent downturn and will help if things get worse. Don’t try to forecast whether this is a correction or a new bear market. It is a […]
