DIY Personal & Retirement Financial Planning
Do-It-Yourself financial and investment planning Excel spreadsheet software
Your financial planning and investing strategies should have a scientific basis 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 a well-considered financial viewpoint. A stable set of financial beliefs can help […]
The scientific investment literature indicates that passive investment strategies usually are more time efficient, while they also increase returns and add more value to your investment portfolio. For example, given the diversification imperative, it is highly questionable whether the vast majority of individual investors should own any common stocks or bonds directly. Instead, they can […]
CLICK HERE TO READ THE SKILLED INVESTOR’s OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT THESE “10 FINANCIAL PLANNING STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Given the extremely large number and variety of available securities, investors need a rational basis to select among them. Without rational selection criteria and a good understanding of which factors are more or less likely to […]
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. Family Financial Planning Software for Home Use Differences in investors’ personal risk tolerances mean that […]
Here is some really good news for you. The Skilled Investor has published an article about lower cost S&P 500 index mutual funds that you can read, entitled: Low Cost S&P 500 Index Mutual Funds. The Standard & Poors 500 stock index is the most common equity index fund benchmark in the U.S. The S […]
The table below in this article presents The Skilled Investor’s Fund Authority Score and other information for USAA S&P 500 Index mutual fund Member Shares (USSPX). The diversified investment fund strategy of the USAA S&P 500 Index mutual fund Member Shares (USSPX) Discover Home Financial Planning Software According to its prospectus filing on the U.S. […]
What is the most effective strategy you have to increase your long-term mutual fund and ETF investment returns? Just reduce your investment fees to rock bottom and buy directly to eliminate all sales loads. This strategy is both simple and entirely within your control. You do not have to be smarter than all those other […]
The diversified investment fund strategy of the Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) According to its prospectus filing on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR system, the investment strategy of the Fidelity Contrafund is to invest primarily in common stocks and particularly in the “securities of companies whose value Fidelity Management & Research Company believes is not […]
Fund Authority Scores rate mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the most important economic factors that influence individual investors’ net long term diversified investment fund performance. The Skilled Investor developed the Fund Authority Score system to provide individual investors with concise, objective, and realistic summaries of mutual funds and ETFs for comparisons within […]
Fund Authority Scores rate mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the most important economic factors that influence individual investors’ net long term diversified investment fund performance. The Skilled Investor developed the Fund Authority Score system to provide individual investors with concise, objective, and realistic summaries of mutual funds and ETFs for comparisons within […]
Fund Authority Scores rate mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the most important economic factors that influence individual investors’ net long term diversified investment fund performance. The Skilled Investor developed the Fund Authority Score system to provide individual investors with concise and objective summaries of mutual funds and ETFs for comparisons within investment […]
VeriPlan can estimate the lost lifetime value of investment sales loads that you have already paid in the past Your personal investment portfolio losses related to past investment sales load payments can and should be measured, when you evaluate the cost-efficiency of your investment strategy. However, you cannot recapture any of the lost returns (past […]
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 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 […]
Tax-advantaged investing is very good for most people at most times 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 a well-considered financial viewpoint. A stable set of financial beliefs can help […]
Factors that tend to favor Roth tax-advantaged plan contributions – Part 2 (Continued from Part 1…) Financial Planning Software for Individuals In a recent article, “Traditional versus Roth tax-advantaged plan contributions,” The Skilled Investor discussed why the average taxpayer would tend to benefit more by contributing to traditional rather than to Roth tax-advantaged IRA and […]
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 […]
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 […]