From the monthly archives:

March 2010

Mutual Fund Industry v. You

March 31, 2010

If you are not happy with the way your 401(k) plan adviser has invested your money, then, according to the recent Supreme Court ruling, you should invest somewhere else.  In a decision that is clearly a victory for the mutual fund industry and a loss for investor trying to keep fees from overtaking their investment [...]

Read the full article →

Running Towards Danger: The New Retirement Plan

March 30, 2010

It is never easy to pinpoint the exact beginning of a crisis. Pinpointing a retirement crisis is even more difficult. You can assume that because one event usually leads to another, at least in our experience with these sorts of things, a crisis would be relatively easy to predict. But even in the short-term, and [...]

Read the full article →

Risk Retention: A Question of Trust

March 30, 2010

Your retirement portfolio is probably overweighted in bonds. If the inflows to bond mutual funds are any indication and the rising popularity of target date funds as the default investment for new investors just beginning their retirement journey are any indication, the trust you place in the issuer of these fixed income tools is a [...]

Read the full article →

The Yearly 401(k) Trigger

March 29, 2010

Most of us like to be reminded of the things we often forget. For instance, changing the batteries in your smoke detectors is often prompted by the change of the clocks. And despite numerous reminders to do these sorts of regular reviews of our retirement plans, specifically those of us who have the defined contribution [...]

Read the full article →

I Want to Retire; Don’t You?

March 29, 2010

The question of working in retirement is not whether we can, but if we can. Many of us would like to continue to feel as though we are needed, able to contribute well past what our parents would have considered retirement and doing so, continue to feel the vigor of simply being able to do [...]

Read the full article →

Pensions: If We All had Them, Would We be Better Off?

March 26, 2010

A recent report on CBSMarketwatch looked a pension envy, a growing concern among those that saw their 401(k)’s devastated over the last several years. Eric Schurenberg believes that this sort of envy will come to end as he hopes public pensions will begin feeling some of the repercussions of what affected the vast majority of [...]

Read the full article →

MomsMakingaMillion Radio Interview: Community Investing

March 26, 2010

Kat Bellucci:Last week on the show, Paul brought up the topic of socially responsible investing.  He explained that it was the sort of investing that follows our beliefs.  In other words, these are investments that invest in businesses that are focused on the same core values we try to live by: protecting the planet and [...]

Read the full article →

Better Muni-Bond Ratings: Cloaking Possibilities

March 26, 2010

We are far from free of the clutches of the Great Recession.  The hold that the recent economic downturn has had on numerous types of investment portfolios will continue, even if, one the surface, it seems to abated somewhat in the equities markets.  The recent decision by Fitch, a bond ratings company, to revisit their [...]

Read the full article →

Scare Us with Talk of Poverty

March 24, 2010

These days, if you really want to scare someone, use the words retirement and poverty in the same sentence. David McPherson used those words in a recent article published at ABC News.  Unfortunately, his suggestions may just help you get only a hair’s breadth away. Just a couple of thoughts on his suggestions: The sooner [...]

Read the full article →