AdviceIQ Articles

  • Locking In a Bad Retirement

    Submitted by Roger Wohlner on Mon, 05/06/2013 - 9:00am

    Despite the wealth of information and good advice about saving for retirement, too many folks miss their financial goals due to avoidable errors.

    Here are five bad habits that all but guarantee a lousy retirement. Do you fall into these traps? If you do, you can avoid them by making a clear financial plan and sticking to it.

  • 5 Ways to Control Spending

    Submitted by Manisha Thakor on Fri, 05/03/2013 - 3:00pm

    It’s hard to set aside a regular monthly amount for savings because our consumer culture encourages overspending and debt. How can you protect your money and apply your resources to your future dreams?

    The first step is to understand how you are psychologically vulnerable to mindless impulsive purchases that don’t actually make you happy. According to Mikelann Valterra, a noted Seattle advisor and author, there are healthy ways to set boundaries on your spending.

  • How to Budget for Vacation

    Submitted by Joseph A. Clark on Fri, 05/03/2013 - 12:00pm

    Vacations are not cheap, and getting less so all the time. But they are necessary for your peace of mind. The trick is not to pay too much for them. Planning is vital, and now is a good time to start.

  • Finding Good Real Estate Yields

    Submitted by Lewis J. Walker on Fri, 05/03/2013 - 9:00am

     

    Most real estate investment trusts, which hold commercial properties and make money from rent, are traded on stock exchanges. But lately they are expensive and don’t pay the lush dividends they used to. But REITs that don’t offer traded shares still offer good payouts.

  • Pay Off Debt: Best Investment

    Submitted by Sterling Raskie on Thu, 05/02/2013 - 3:00pm

    Do you want a surefire return? Then whittle down what you owe, whether it’s mortgage, automobile, boat, credit cards or college debt.

    By paying down your debt, you guarantee a rate of return equal to the interest rate you pay on the debt. For some debt, it’s a better return than the stock market might bring. Even if you have good credit, it’s hard to come by an annual percentage rate of less than 15%, but a 15% annual gain in almost any investment is exceptionally good.

  • Identify Your Goal First

    Submitted by Dan Crimmins on Thu, 05/02/2013 - 12:00pm

    Money empowers you to act on your desires, but also tempts you to spend on frivolous items and questionable goals. Figuring out your goal gets out of the cycle of aimless spending.

  • ETFs and Funds: Both Good

    Submitted by Roger Wohlner on Thu, 05/02/2013 - 9:00am

    Since the financial crisis, many investors lost faith in mutual funds, especially actively managed ones with higher fees, and flocked to low-cost exchange-traded index funds. This isn’t a bad thing, but there is no reason to categorically exclude mutual funds from your portfolio.

  • Is Your Advisor a Crook?

    Submitted by Eve Kaplan on Wed, 05/01/2013 - 3:00pm

    How can you be sure that your financial advisor is on the up and up? Your assets are too important for you to blindly trust the person you hire to tend them.

  • Investing Lessons from Golf

    Submitted by Dan Crimmins on Wed, 05/01/2013 - 12:00pm

    Successful golfing and successful investing are similar. The key to both is determining how much risk is appropriate to accomplish your goals and when it is not.

    Watching the different styles of the golfers at the Masters reminds me of an analogy that I sometimes use while talking to prospective clients. While each of the golfers tries to complete the four rounds of golf in the least amount of strokes, the way they accomplish this varies. That is also true for investors.

  • Don’t Bet on Investing Genius

    Submitted by Elizabeth Anderson on Wed, 05/01/2013 - 9:00am

    Over the course of your investing life, you will probably hear a large number of misstatements, partial truths, and out-and-out whoppers about investing. These ideas are typically part of a well-rehearsed sales pitch, often by someone who has a financial interest in getting investors to believe them.

    They sound very seductive. Some ideas are bandied about so widely that they become folk wisdom.

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SMART ADVICE

 

A Tragic Mistake: ‘I Don’t Need Help Handling my Money’

 

By Larry Light, Editor-in-Chief

May 1, 2013

 

We all like to think we’re smart and self-sufficient. A lot of folks believe they can manage their financial lives by themselves. These do-it-yourselfers are woefully wrong.

 

AdviceIQ is about giving the world the wisdom of smart, honest (none can have any regulatory infractions) advisors. Are we blindly pro-advisor? No, we are clear-eyed about being pro-good advisor. Everyone, even the financial cognoscenti, should have such a helper to sort out life’s perplexities.

 

Lamentably, the financial crisis and the Bernard Madoff scandal convinced many to steer clear of advisors. According to a Deloitte consulting firm study, 57% of those polled say they’re more comfortable handling their retirement planning on their own. Plus, 38% contend they need no professional advice to plan.

 

Really? A story from Paul Sullivan shows how wrong-headed they are. Sullivan is enormously well-versed in personal finance, which he writes about for the New York Times. But it turns out that even he could use some help with his portfolio. One day he went before Tiger 21, an investment club of very wealthy (with at least $10 million in net worth) types who assessed his financial situation. To Sullivan’s surprise and dismay, the group found major holes: He and his wife didn’t have enough insurance, they carried an unneeded vacation home and spent too much.

 

The blasé DIY attitude vexes Edmond Walters, founder and chief executive of eMoney Advisor, which provides support services to advisors. He watches discount broker TV ads that promise you can direct your investments by yourself, without paying an advisor. “It’s dangerous,” he says. “The ads say you can come home after work and spend a couple of hours trading a month. But the professionals have a lot more information than you.” Result: You get slammed.

 

As the Times’ Sullivan attests, it’s good to have a more knowledgeable someone guiding you, an expert who keeps up with all the arcane changes in the financial arena. Do you know how much disability coverage you need? Are you saving adequately for your kids’ education? How much money are you wasting for no good reason? Will your investments support you through your retirement?

 

Walters spent almost two decades as an advisor before he started his current company. “But,” he says, “even I have an advisor.”

 

 

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