DIY Personal & Retirement Financial Planning

Do-It-Yourself financial and investment planning Excel spreadsheet software

Fee-Only Financial Planner and Investment Advisor Groups

Members of certain financial and investment advisory groups have chosen to work with their clients solely on a client-paid “fee-only” basis. Members of certain fee-only advisory organizations have pledged to work with their clients through fee-only compensation arrangements. These organizations do not issue certifications. They are membership organizations. National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) […]

Fee-Only Compensation Aligns the Interests of Clients and their Financial Advisors

Several important considerations favor using fee-only financial advisors over advisors and investment counselors who accept third party commissions and other payments. Fee-only payment arrangements with advisors allow clients to: 1) maintain trust and reduce unethical behavior, 2) separate financial decisions from purchases, and 3) obtain lower cost financial products. Percent of asset fees align client […]

How Expensive is Investment Advisor Compensation Paid via Sales Loads?

Even if you actually are getting good financial advice, paying your investment advisor via a sales load charge is just one of several potential compensation methods. A sales load might be the method that you prefer to compensate your broker or advisor. If your advisor is truly competent and ethical, he may be able to […]

The Value and Opportunity Cost of Your Personal Investment Management Time

Your time is valuable, and it should be included in calculations about your investment returns. Whether you add or subtract value from your assets when you spend time on investment activities should also be evaluated. Some investors spend significant time on the wrong strategies. Instead of adding value, their efforts reduce their investment portfolio performance […]

Financial Planner and Investment Advisor Compensation Paid by Third Parties

There are three primary types of third party or commission-based compensation: commission-only, fee-based commission, and fee-offset commission. How an advisor is compensated can be a very important issue. With commission-only advisors, there is no direct cost to the client for planning and advice. The advice appears to be free, but it is not. Most clients […]

Financial Advisor and Investment Counselor Compensation Paid by Clients

There are three primary types of client paid advisor compensation: hourly-fee, fixed-fee, and asset-fee. When choosing an advisor, individuals should first decide the type of advisor compensation that makes them most comfortable. How an advisor is compensated can be a very important issue. When you hire a financial planner or investment advisor, 1) you pay […]

Does it matter how financial planners and investment advisors are paid?

Yes, it can matter significantly how a financial advisor is paid. The heart of the compensation issue is an advisor’s potential “conflict of interest” with respect to payments from third parties. Does third party compensation change the quality of the recommendations that the advisers make? If an advisor works on sales commissions or accepts other […]

15 Value-Added Individual Investor Activities

Before estimating the investment value that you might add or take away from your portfolio, you first need to determine whether your strategies are or are not likely to lead to optimal risk-adjusted investment returns. This value estimation is separate from any hourly opportunity cost related to spending time on your investments versus an alternative […]

Choose objective and competent financial advisers and investment counselors – Step 10 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 Financial Planning Software for Consumers Pick financial and investment advisers solely to obtain objective and high quality advice. Specific financial and investment advice is potentially of high quality, if it is carefully customized to your particular […]

Monitor and adjust your financial plan in a time-efficient manner – Step 9 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 Family Financial Planning Software Time in life is the most precious and perishable asset that a person has. It should be spent enjoyably and efficiently. Scientific investment strategies that rely on relatively efficient financial markets allow […]

Insure against risks economically – Step 8 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 Discover Home Financial Planning Software While value, affordability, risk exposure, and risk tolerance should affect insurance purchase decisions, insurance is often sold and purchased emotionally. Yet, insurance premium payments reduce personal funds that might otherwise be […]

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. Family Financial Planning Software The fees extracted by […]

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 for Home Use Because the average risk-averse investor holds […]

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. Financial Planning Software for Consumers Diversification has become an axiom of personal investing, because the specific risks of […]

Assess your personal investment return and risk preferences – Step 3 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.” Investors with different levels of risk tolerance are more satisfied with investment strategies that are better aligned with their risk preferences. Financial Planning Software for Consumers Differences in investors’ personal risk tolerances mean that more risk-averse […]

Set your personal savings and other financial goals – Step 2 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.” The single most significant financial lever that individuals control directly is their management of personal expenditures. The second is their lifetime effort to obtain sufficient income. Most people simply do not save enough of their current […]

Develop Your Own Personal Financial Planning Skills – Step 1 of 10 Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction

You are completely responsible for your financial and investment success or failure. Delegating investment decisions to industry advisers largely on naive faith and hope without adequate personal knowledge, attention, and control can be very risky to your personal and family welfare. The only practical solution is for you to increase your personal investment knowledge and […]

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