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Archives for December 2011

Ringing The Old Year Out and Bringing The New Year In—-

12/22/2011 by

As we look at the 2011 year in review, remember that “this too shall pass”. New Year’s Resolutions are about to begin and as we look forward to 2012, make a New Year’s resolution as it relates to your finances. Take the 30 day challenge, look at income needs vs wants and get a “real” budget in place.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran interviews with four financial advisors soliciting their outlooks for 2012. Specifically, the Journal asked these sages to forecast which sectors had the most promise and which ones investors should avoid next year.

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ABC…1 2 3 the Rules!

12/16/2011 by

Check out this video of Mark Matson’s appearance on Fox Business last Friday. Mark is the CEO and President of Matson Money, the portfolio management firm we use, as well as my personal coach.

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Bet it all on Black not Red

12/12/2011 by

Last Friday marked the 10 year anniversary of Enron Corporation going bust.

On December 2, 2001, Enron filed for bankruptcy. In the late 1990’s and the very early 2000’s, you could hardly find a growth or a high tech mutual fund that did not list Enron as one of its top 5 holdings. Yes, it was sad when the company tanked, but it was devastating to the thousands of Enron employees who’s 401(k) Retirement Plans were brimming with shares of Enron Stock.

At the time, a little over 60% of Enron employees’ 401(k) accounts held the company stock. About 11% of that was the “company match” portion, but the rest was selected by the employees as a retirement plan holding. And essentially overnight, their plans for a peaceful retirement were shattered.

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Knowing When to Fold’em

12/07/2011 by

An “irrational quest for safety drove all kinds of nutty economic and investment behavior in 2011.” So said the Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of the brokerage firm, T. Rowe Price, a couple of weeks ago at a media conference in New York, as reported by Advisor One, an on-line investment newsletter for financial professionals.

He went on to say that “irrational thinking explains … why people are terrified of risk and volatility.” I can understand the frustration. When the markets take a downturn, many advisors and their investor clients sell their investments and park their money in cash. In other words, they sell when the market is low, and want to wait until prices rise before they get back in.

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