DIY Personal & Retirement Financial Planning

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Reduce investment expenses and control taxation – Step 7 of 10 Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SKILLED INVESTOR’s OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT THESE “10 FINANCIAL PLANNING STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Even with optimal investment strategies, there is still substantial room to improve upon net investment performance through continued and vigilant focus on controlling investment costs and tax realization. Financial Planning Software for Home Use The fees […]

How unstable have stock market returns been over time?

Common stock equity market returns have varied widely in the past. The common stock equity risk premium has averaged about 4.1% from 1872 to 2000. The equity risk premium is the equity market return less the risk free rate of return. The risk free rate of return includes both the inflation rate and the risk […]

Allocate investments across the primary asset classes – Step 5 of 10 Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SKILLED INVESTOR’s OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT THESE “10 FINANCIAL PLANNING STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Appropriately setting your personal investment asset allocation in line with your personal investment risk tolerance is a critical decision for every individual investor. Family Financial Planning Software Because the average risk-averse investor holds the average portfolio […]

Diversify fully within asset classes – Step 4 of 10 Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SKILLED INVESTOR’s OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT THESE “10 FINANCIAL PLANNING STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.” Diversification is genuinely an investment “free lunch,” and it is a key contributor to improved investment risk management. Family Financial Planning Software for Home Use Diversification has become an axiom of personal investing, because the specific […]

Why only one Warren Buffett? The illusion of superior professional mutual fund manager performance.

<<– Continued from Part 1 (Where’s Waldo? The illusion of superior professional mutual fund manager performance.) Instead of highlighting dozens or even hundreds of perennially superior mutual fund money managers, the media conversation has become a repetitive chant about Warren Buffett. Find Home Financial Planning Software While highly successful and very worthy of respect, it […]

How to distinguish between true investment skill and luck

Even if an investor has obtained superior results over an extended period, is this sufficient proof that these investment results were actually due to skill rather than just a lucky streak? No, these investment results could still be due to chance. For example, take a large population, such as all individual investors in the U.S., […]

Efficient Market Pricing in the Investment Securities Markets

Efficient market pricing is the theory that all known information is already reflected in current securities prices. Efficient securities market pricing has become very widely accepted within the investment community. The preponderance of evidence is that securities markets are efficient and tend to reflect available information. Whether you believe markets are efficient is very important […]

Investment Valuation and Securities Risk for Individual Investors

The securities markets provide an evolving consensus of the risk-adjusted value of particular securities. By understanding how the markets value securities, individual investors can chose more durable investment strategies Judging the potential usefulness of different investment strategies requires some understanding of what the public securities markets really do. This article discusses how the markets price […]

Pay Lower Expenses To Get Higher Investment Returns – Part 2

Pay lower investment expenses to get higher investment returns While financial services industry sales people tell you that you need to pay more to get more, the correct answer is the opposite. Excessive investment costs are a plague on your personal financial planning. Excessive investment expenses are one of the most significant barriers to lifelong […]

Pay Lower Investment Expenses To Get Higher Investment Returns

Pay Lower Investment Expenses To Get Higher Investment Returns – Part 1 Excessive investment costs are a plague on your personal financial planning. Excessive investment expenses are one of the most significant barriers to lifelong family financial security. While financial services industry sales people tell you that you need to pay more to get more, […]

Advisor Costs and Strategies Determine Your Return on their Services

Financial advisor costs and the value of their investment strategies determine your return on investment from these investment advisor services A previous financial article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that investors are much better off with a well-considered […]

Never Invest Solely Because of Superior Past Investment Fund Performance

Never invest solely because of superior past mutual fund or ETF performance Superior past fund performance does NOT predict superior future performance. Summary: A previous article, “The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient,” suggested that individuals are much better off with […]

Make More Optimal Tradeoffs Between Investment Risk and Return

VeriPlan helps you make more optimal decisions about the tradeoffs between investment risk, investment return, and personal savings Too often decisions about risk-adjusted investing and asset allocation are over-simplified with a few questions about your risk tolerance. Typically, this superficial process will be followed quickly by the offer of a canned, off-the-shelf asset allocation scheme […]

Stay Invested in Securities Markets to Earn Risk Premiums

You must stay invested in the securities markets to earn market return risk premiums Securities markets pay risk premiums to risk takers You have to have your money invested and at risk to be paid a risk premium. Attempting to avoid risk or losses by jumping in and out to “time the markets” does not […]

Risk-Free Investment Money Is Fantasy Money

For Individual Investors Risk-Free Investment Money Is Fantasy Money Securities with low investment risk and high investment returns are just fantasies. No “risk-free” investment money is consistently and reliably available to individuals. Luck dominates skill in the securities markets. Clever investment selection is vastly over-hyped, and only the promoters tend to benefit. On average over […]

Do Not Get Fooled by Superior Historical Investment Performance

Evaluate the historical investment performance of mutual funds and ETFs, BUT ONLY AFTER using other screening criteria Choosing only from among mutual funds and ETFs that have performed very well in the past can lead to significant selection mistakes and inferior personal portfolio returns Previous superior or average fund performance simply does not predict similar […]

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