As fee-only financial planners, the overriding concern we hear from people approaching retirement is “will I have enough to live on?”  Followed closely by “how can you make my money grow, without exposing it to a lot of risk?”  After the dramatic economic downturn in 2008, even the most confident investors can become a bit skittish when they think about relying on their investments for the next 20 or 30 years. 

Safeguarding the future of your loved ones is one of the most important parts of what effective Financial Planning is all about. Unfortunately, however, when you don't have a financial advisor who is on your side, chances are that your heirs and beneficiaries will receive only part of your estate. This is because the rest will go towards taxes and administrative costs that can center around commissions or other charges calculated as a percentage of your total assets. True fee-only Financial Advisors don't accept commissions or compensation based on product sales or other related costs. This means you get more comprehensive advice because they don't have to choose between what's best for you or what's best for them. Why is this so important in helping you minimize estate shrinkage and allowing you to achieve your lifetime personal goals?

Last month, I talked about stocks and how the collective wisdom of the market values, or prices, companies.

As we remember the service men and women who have sacrificed for our ideals, we wish you and yours a wonderful weekend.

Here's a little history on Memorial Day from Joshua Claybourn and usmemorialday.org:

Selecting a top-quality financial advisor is crucial to the success and stability of your financial future. There are many factors to consider. One of the most important considerations is the experience of an advisor or team. Here, we will examine the value of using an experienced team of financial advisors.

If you are looking at investing your hard-earned money, then at some point you will probably interact with one or two money advisors. It is critical that you understand the differences between fiduciary vs. non-fiduciary advisors because very different standards apply to their advice, their practice, and the effect both have on your money. You'll want to keep in mind these things:

 This post is the outcome of several things that happened over the last two weeks.  The first of which is that I've been immersed in the latest issue of the Financial Analysts Journal, which, being published by the CFA Institute, is normally full of mind-numbing formulas, etc. However, this issue is focused on the retirement challenge.  A topic near and dear to our hearts at Artifex, since retirement planning is a key priority for most of our clients, even our corporate ones (we provide advisory services to 401(k) plans as well).  Several of the articles really hit home to our mission here, but three were really impactful: "It's time to Retire Ruin (Probabilities)" by Moshe Milevsky; Deactivating Active Share" by Andrea Frazzini, Jacques Friedman and Lukasz Pomorski; and "Fees Eat Diversification's Lunch" by William W. Jennings, CFA and Brian C. Payne.  I'll talk more about these in future posts, but the bottom line in all of them is that what the public is lead (or mislead) to believe is many times not true, and can actually damage your financial health.  And, fees are often hidden and can be excessive relative to the supposed benefit of investing in a particular fund, hedge fund, or asset class.

How great is this week in sports?  NCAA Men's Basketball finals, The Masters, and the beginning of the baseball season!

Against the wind