Gold IRAs and Hidden Fees: The True Cost of Holding Physical Gold in Your Retirement
For investors who value the stability of precious metals, the idea of holding physical gold or silver in an IRA can be enticing. Companies like GoldPro and Birch Gold Group have built entire businesses around facilitating this, promising to help you secure your retirement with tangible assets that have stood the test of time. But what many investors don’t realize is the steep price of this privilege: these companies often charge significant fees that can quietly erode returns, making the allure of physical gold in your IRA far more costly than it seems.
Gold and Precious Metals as Investments: Why They’re Not Always the Golden Ticket
Investing in gold and other precious metals has a longstanding allure. The idea of holding tangible, timeless assets that have been valuable for millennia feels both safe and prestigious. But in reality, the appeal of gold and precious metals can often be more about perception than performance.
YOLO, Meme, and EMH: What’s Your Investment Style?
You only live once! Social media investors have banded together on unconventional platforms to drive up the prices of a handful of “meme stocks,” seemingly without traditional evaluation of investing risks and rewards. They made headlines with their “short squeeze” of GameStop (GME), and, as they garner media attention, their tactics continue. While it’s not the intended victim of the YOLO traders, will the efficient market hypothesis be a casualty of these events? The answer depends a lot on your definition of efficient markets. Perhaps long-term investors would be better served questioning the potential impact on their investment philosophy.
RISKALYZE
Riskalyze quantifies the semantics of the financial advice industry, replacing confusing and subjective terms like “moderately conservative” and “moderately aggressive” with the Risk Number®, a number between 1 and 99 that pinpoints a client’s exact comfort zone for downside risk and potential upside gain with a 95% Probability Range. Advisors then build an investment portfolio to match the client’s Risk Number and chart a clearly defined path to achieving the client’s goals.
Election Results & Market Returns
By design, elections have clear winners and losers. But the real winners were investors who avoided the temptation to base their decisions around election results and stayed invested for the long haul.
Independence Day Optimism
While we’ve faced several health, social, and economic crises this year, July Fourth is a good time to think about how lucky we are to live in this great country and to remember the resilience and perseverance we’ve demonstrated over the past 244 years. History has shown us that better times will come.
Looking Forward
As we look ahead to the summer months, we can’t help but think what a challenging year it’s been so far. At the same time, we’re encouraged by the resiliency and accelerated innovation among US businesses and the efforts by our national, state, and local governments to support our communities. And we continue to be amazed by the unparalleled dedication and cooperation among our front-line healthcare professionals and medical researchers to see us through to the other side of this health crisis…
Better Times Are Coming
“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
The economic struggles in our country are among the worst we’ve ever seen. In April, a record 20 million people lost their jobs, and 36 million people have filed for unemployment since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in mid-March. Record drops in consumer confidence, manufacturing, and spending are all adding to the immediate economic fallout. Specific industries have been devastated, with names like J.C. Penney, J.Crew, and Neiman Marcus filing for bankruptcy…
Nowhere To Go But Up
Investors like labels for the economy and financial markets—many of them with the word “great” in them. The Great Depression. The Great Recession. The Great Lockdown. Well, we’ve moved into what we might call the Great Disconnect. How can stocks have rebounded so strongly in the last month amid so much suffering and economic damage? What’s Wall Street seeing that so many on Main Street are not?
How We Respond Matters
As the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic continues, how we respond to it will determine how we beat it. Continued sacrifices range from everyone in the medical community working on the front lines to the thousands of truck drivers across our country keeping goods flowing, parents who have become homeschoolers, and folks missing their family events to help stop the spread of this terrible outbreak. As Lou Holtz said, we can’t control what happens, but how we respond to it is what matters. Our response to this crisis has shown the resolve and strength of the human spirit, which is why we will overcome.
Finding Calm in the Storm
The battle with COVID-19 rages on, and the headlines continue to get worse. Individuals and companies are hurting, with even an iconic company like The Cheesecake Factory telling landlords they won’t be able to make their rent payments for April. This current situation is a human crisis, and there is no way to put a value on the lives that have been lost. However, we will get past this pandemic, as we’ve gotten past every other crisis, and we will see better times in the future. As Warren Buffett stated, when clouds are dark, that could spell opportunity for longer-term investors.
A Clear Vision of Financial Goals
Our everyday lives have changed dramatically over the last few weeks as we work together to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know these efforts are necessary, but they also have come at a cost.
Managing Volatility & Looking For Some Green Shoots
Fears over the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) have gripped the country and sent stocks in the US and around the world into bear markets. Thursday’s nearly 10% decline in the S&P 500 Index was one of its worst days in history and the largest one-day percent decline since the 1987 crash. What makes pandemics so much more personal than other crises is how they are felt by everyone, as nearly all major events have been cancelled, major league sports seasons have been postponed, travel restrictions have been put in place, many employees are being sent home to work remotely, planes are empty, and many shoppers are staying away from stores and restaurants.
Pandemics & the Markets
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has our attention. We can’t turn on our radio or TV without hearing about how the number of infections continue to rise. Our smartphones provide a steady stream of fear-inducing content on how this new virus might bring a shock to our economy and financial markets.
Bull Market Reaches 10 Years
The S&P 500 Index has staged an impressive rally after nearly entering a bear market December 24, with U.S. stocks notching their best start to a year since 1991.
Stocks have climbed the “wall of worry” once again, but global uncertainty persists as the bull market nears its tenth anniversary. While the road to new market highs could get a little bumpy as investors deal with Brexit and China trade concerns, investors are encouraged to focus on the fundamentals supporting economic growth and corporate profitability in 2019.
Stocks Warm Up in January
While most of us have been shoveling our driveways and setting by the fire, the stock market been warming up after a chilling December. Since the lows in December, the market is up more than 16% (as of Feb. 6, 2019). Some recent reports have been encouraging and point to a steadily expanding economy. Meanwhile, market participants have become more comfortable with the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) message. While these are positive developments, the likelihood for further volatility persists. Investors are encouraged to remain focused on the fundamentals that support a positive outlook for continued economic growth and stock market gains in 2019.
Looking Ahead to 2019
Another year is drawing to a close, but so far neither market volatility nor market-moving headlines have shown any signs of winding down. As we reflect on a challenging 2018 and look for bright spots in 2019, confidence in continued steady growth in the U.S. economy remains. The list of the market’s concerns is long, but fundamentals for stocks appear favorable. Here is a brief check-in on the latest developments across these areas of concern and thoughts on the increase in market volatility.
Sell in May? Let's Talk...
May’s arrival has brought warmer weather to many parts of the U.S. (finally), but it also brings talk of one of the most widely cited stock market clichés in history. “Sell in May and go away” is a longstanding investment adage because historically, the six-month period from May through October has been the weakest stretch of the year. However, before you spring into action, it’s important to step back and look at the big picture of what’s really driving our current market environment. The fundamentals of impressive earnings, modest valuations, and a strong economic backdrop may be better indicators to watch.
Putting Recent Volatility in Context
The volatility that is often associated with the month of October has arrived with the market sell-off on Wednesday, October 10. Experiencing market declines and increased volatility can be unnerving for any investor, but if we can take a step back and see the big picture, that the market and economic environment remain positive, it can be easier to weather these challenging periods.
Key Factors to Watch in Q4
The first day of fall may be in September, but the beginning of October is when that autumn feeling really kicks in. Whether you’re mourning the end of long summer days or embracing the return of pumpkin spice at your local coffee shop, October also signals that we’ll soon be closing the books on another year. And while the start of the fourth quarter may trigger a look back on the year so far, it doesn’t mean things are slowing down.