DIY Personal & Retirement Financial Planning
Do-It-Yourself financial and investment planning Excel spreadsheet software
Snapshots in time – How investment securities are valued Every securities market transaction requires a buyer and seller with differing viewpoints. Markets can operate, because there are differences between investors in their assessments of the intrinsic value and risk of securities. Find Family Financial Planning Software Current investment values vary in the eyes of the […]
< <– Go to Part 4 The Biggest Personal Finance Story of the Past 30 Years – Conclusion Discover Family 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 […]
10 Lower Cost S&P 500 Index Mutual Funds Regular readers know that The Skilled Investor advocates a very boring, low cost, broad market, passive index investment strategy. Costs less. Gets the broad market return — whatever that will be. Narrows the range of outcomes and therefore the risk to your long-term personal financial plan. Takes […]
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, […]
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 […]
How expensive is financial advisor compensation paid via sales loads? 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 manage properly the inherent conflicts of interest that are associated with commissioned investment product sales. Even […]
The heavy burden of recurring investment fees (Part 2 of 2) < < — Go to Part 1 By charging fees as a percent of your assets, the investment industry can make their recurring fees seem small – like they are “just a few†percent. Financial Planning Software for Individuals Furthermore, by charging fees against […]
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? 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 […]
No financial planning software and no investment growth calculator can predict the future The future is simply not predictable, even with automated financial planning software. 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 […]
SEC’s “Merrill Lynch Rule” Struck Down by the US Court of Appeals In a 2 to 1 decision this morning, the US Court of Appeals struck down the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s rule on fee based broker accounts, which as become commonly known as the “Merrill Lynch Rule.” This rule was first proposed in […]
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. Financial Planning Software […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
John C. Bogle’s Blog and his article about ETFs This article is a heads-up to people interested in investment blogs and personal finance blogs. John C. Bogle, the founder of The Vanguard Group, Inc., has a blog called The Bogle eBlog. (If you are wondering about “eBlog,” it is an anagram of Bogle.) Mr. Bogle […]
On-line screening of mutual funds and ETFs: minimum requirements In this article, The Skilled Investor discusses minimum requirements for on-line mutual fund and ETF screening tools. This article summarizes our seven scientifically based fund selection criteria and reports on our survey of the capabilities of free on-line website tools to do screens using these criteria. […]
Avoid investment funds with higher investment portfolio turnover The problem with high turnover is that higher fund trading adds substantial hidden expenses that drag down returns. Because short-term trading is a zero sum game (before costs) played against other well informed traders, greater turnover is far more likely on average to result in lower fund […]
Choose mutual funds and ETFs with MUCH LOWER investment management expenses Investment fund management fees can only be justified by individual investors, if higher net returns more than compensate for these fees. Sadly, this is most often not the case with actively managed equity and bond mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In addition, you […]