DIY Personal & Retirement Financial Planning
Do-It-Yourself financial and investment planning Excel spreadsheet software
Everyone has similar, yet distinct, financial planning needs regarding their families’ financial futures. While more wealthy people (think millions of dollars) have greater complexity to their financial affairs (caused largely by our incredibly convoluted U.S. personal tax codes), everyone needs sophisticated financial lifecycle planning. Whether wealthy or not yet wealthy, families need a personalized way […]
Why allow the financial industry to help itself to your money? This blog provides you with objective information that could solidify a lifelong commitment on our part to low cost investing. Low cost investing is how you keep more of your own investments for your family, instead of naively giving your money to the financial […]
Why don’t we hear about the real financial sector scandals, which are exorbitant fees and costs that cause a continuous wealth transfer from individuals to the financial services industry? This article follows a recent article entitled “The Financial Services Industry is Still the Largest S&P 500 Sector – Even after the Collapse of its Stock […]
For three decades, the market value of the financial services industry segment within the Standard and Poors 500 composite index rose steadily to reach 21% in the middle of 2007. This article updates an August 2007 article, “The Biggest Personal Finance Story of the Past 30 Years,” which was published just as the real estate […]
The Problem – Straight answers about personal financial planning and investment management are difficult to find In this article, The Skilled Investor summarizes some of the significant problems faced by ordinary individuals, when they attempt to plan their family finances. This is the first in a series of articles that will provide scientifically grounded decision […]
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 […]
You are not likely to beat the stock market, despite all the cheer leading from the securities industry and the financial media. When you try to beat the public securities markets, unfortunately you are more likely to trail the market’s return, because of extra costs, taxes, and investment mistakes. The idea that investors can beat […]
< <– Go to Part 4 The Biggest Personal Finance Story of the Past 30 Years – Conclusion Discover Home Financial Planning Software This article concludes our series on the greatest personal finance story of the past thirty years. In this article, we discuss whether the dramatic growth in equity value of the financial services […]
< <– Go to Part 3 The Biggest Personal Finance Story of the Past 30 Years – Part 4 Financial Planning Software for Consumers What does it mean to individual investors that the financial services industry is now about 21% of S&P 500 market capitalization? (For a graph of the relative percentage shares of various […]
The Biggest Personal Finance Story of the Past 30 Years – Part 1 What could the biggest personal finance story of three decades be? The growth of mutual funds and ETFs? Nope. The dot com boom and bust? Nope. Vanishing pensions? Nope. The not-so-high quality of mortgage bonds? Nope. A 0% personal savings rate nationally? […]
The kind of financial advisor you need – A Tip from The Skilled Investor Good or bad, financial advisors are expensive. If you need a financial advisor’s help and you carefully select a good financial advisor, the value of the personal finance and investment advice that you receive might easily repay the advisor cost. However, […]
PIRATES OF THE CREDIT SEA — Part 5: I write to the President of CitiBank Customer Service My saga to recover my credit card treasure continues. Previous articles have covered the particulars of my situation, and I will not repeat them. In summary, for fifteen years I have always done my best to conform to […]
Use Caution with Classical Investment Books – A Tip from The Skilled Investor Individual investors should exercise caution when applying the tactics of classical investment books to current markets. The more handcrafted, seat-of-the-pants, and individual actor approach to the securities markets in the pre-computer, pre-networking era has given way to different practices. What might have […]
The heavy burden of recurring investment fees (Part 1 of 2) Recurring investment costs can significantly impact the long-term value of your retained investment portfolio assets. Recurring fees, such as asset management fees, 12b-1 marketing fees, and advisory/asset custody fees are charged periodically, as a percent of your investment assets. The relative cost-efficiency of your […]
Can you really get free and objective investment advice, when you pay investment sales loads? (Part 2 of 2) Excessive investment costs and investment expenses are a plague on your lifetime personal financial planning. Excessive investment expenses are one of the most significant barriers to lifelong family financial security. While financial services industry sales people […]
Can you really get free and objective investment advice, when you pay investment sales loads? Excessive investment expenses are one of the most significant barriers to your family’s lifelong financial security. Excessive investment costs are a plague on your personal financial planning. While financial services industry sales people tell you that you need to pay […]
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, […]
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 […]
Excessive investment expenses take 2% of individual investor’s assets every year Year after year, millions of people lose large amounts of money on unnecessary and unproductive investment costs and investment expenses. The typical investor loses about 2% of portfolio assets every year by paying too much and getting too little in return. Family Financial Planning […]
Financial research drives industry product development, but not necessarily toward the best interests of individuals Personal financial decisions seem to have become very complicated. To add to the confusion, the financial services industry develops an unending array of supposedly innovative new products. However, a large part of the complexity that individuals face results from the […]