Social Security
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Howard Marks on the Stock Market
Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital is one of our leading investors. He focuses on the credit markets, or bond markets, and generally looks for distressed opportunities and mispriced bonds. He recently sat down with Morningstar for an interview to give his assessment of the markets. He says the stock markets still aren’t overheated, despite recent […]
Peaking Behind the Stock Market Indexes
Most investors talk about “the market,” referring to the stock indexes. But you have to look behind the headlines or the index totals. There are many different stocks and sectors within an index. Your performance can be far higher or lower than the index depending on what you own. Looking into the details also can […]
Taking Early Retirement with Obamacare
The medical coverage gap is the bane of most early retirees. They leave their jobs and lose their employer-provided medical coverage. They aren’t eligible for Medicare, because they haven’t reached age 65. Unlike Social Security, Medicare doesn’t give you the option of beginning early. You could pay for a continuation of the employer coverage under […]
Why to Hate Stock Market Predictions and Forecasts
I don’t make many financial predictions and don’t make portfolio recommendations based on them. Yet, most financial and investment marketing these days seems to be based on predictions. Investors in general are captivated by predictions and spend a lot of time reading different forecasts and trying to determine which is right. Using predictions is a […]
Some Professional Investors Beat The Stock Market Indexes
You’re exposed to a lot of discussion about how the average mutual fund or money manager underperforms selected stock indexes. But not many people are aware that over the years, studies demonstrated that the averaged defined benefit pension plan earns higher returns than the average 401(k) account. Here’s one discussion of that. One way to […]
Protecting Yourself from ID Theft
Identity theft isn’t making the headlines it did a few years ago. Yet, it’s still a problem. The FTC estimates that annually about 9 million Americans have their identities stolen, and this costs consumers about $5 billion. The FTC says fixing your credit after a theft takes about 175 hours and costs $1,173. In addition, […]
Understanding 2013’s New Taxes
It’s time to clear away the confusion about some new taxes for 2013: the 3.8% tax on investment income and changes that affect the alternative mini-mum tax. Act now, or you’ll have an unpleasant surprise when completing your 2013 tax returns in 2014. The 3.8% investment income tax is separate from all other taxes and […]
Another Stock Market Myth Exposed
Part of my book Invest Like a Fox…Not Like a Hedgehog is devoted to teaching that there are a lot of market myths that are widely-held despite the lack of data to support them. Here’s evidence of one. Some people are worried about the stock market, because the sectors considered to be defensive have been […]
