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:

 Steve Grasso

The last couple of decades have seen a decided shift in the way investors invest, largely due to the accessibility of the Internet. Although investors like the idea of being independent in their financial strategies, their lack of expertise puts their overall portfolios at risk. In seeking to have some control over the direction of their investments while getting the expert consultation needed, investors are finding these 3 benefits in fee-only financial planning.

 (via Broadridge)

 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.

 (Via Broadridge)

 Steve Grasso (via Broadridge)

 Steve Grasso (via Broadridge Forefield)

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