State College, PA – Large growth companies have been the top performing asset class for the last several years starting back in 2014. They have been better than small and value companies by comparison in six of the last seven years. This environment does create pause for the academic minded investor knowing the historic reality […]
COVID vs. Capitalism
06/03/2020 by
Lewisburg, PA – COVID crisis! Is it the end of life as we known it? Is there really going to be a ”new normal” moving forward? My guess would be a resounding NO! I’m occasionally accused of being too optimistic, some might say Pollyanna. I submit to you that it’s easy to be optimistic when […]
Corona Virus and Modern Financial Industry
03/10/2020 by
State College, PA – They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. As I look back at 20 years in the business, I see a fingerprint on the national scale that was created by a small group of independent advisers. This group of advisers decided they wanted to educate the public about the […]
DIY…Investing?
09/26/2018 by
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Does “Do It Yourself” Investing really work? Can the average American, who is not schooled in finance, really do it themselves? Can a human kiosk replace financial advisors in the future? Listen to this podcast and discover some realities about the current financial planning and investment landscapes from the Investor Coach, Paul Nichols and host […]
Do-It-Yourself Investing
09/20/2018 by
State College, PA – It seems in the last few years, there has been a strong push in the financial arena encouraging people to “Do-It-Yourself”. The idea that with technology and the availability of information, people can have access to low broker trade arrangements to set up their portfolios and allow a computer to automatically […]
Stock Picking: Confident Assertion or Financial Folly
05/02/2017 by
Have you ever personally experienced a Confident Assertion within yourself or while observing others? I think it’s interesting in the area finance, how many Confident Assertions are made about the stock market. Then with hindsight become a bitter punch line, more so than a reality. We see this with recommendations from bullies on Wall Street; […]
The Real Cost of Safe Money
09/13/2016 by
Altoona, PA – A fellow Investor Coach shared a story about a Senior Citizen on a radio talk show the other day, lamenting about the ultra-low CD rates the banks are now paying. He had recently spent an entire afternoon visiting one bank after another, trying to eke out a few extra pennies to help […]
Municipal Bond? Safe or Sham?
09/01/2016 by
State College, PA – It has happened again! Investors depending on municipal bonds for a secure retirement should be concerned. For the second time in three years, the Security and Exchange Commission has slapped another state with securities fraud. Recently, the SEC charged Illinois with misleading its municipal bond investors. In a press release, the […]
From My Daily Journal
08/31/2016 by
A trend we have noticed among baby boomers that we have recently coached up about global market returns is a lot of people exhibit concern and worried body language. When we discuss retirement planning and income needs, not only is there a high percentage of fear, but some of the people that I’m talking to […]
A Broken Record
08/12/2016 by
The more I study my industry, the more I’m noticing that the news of pessimism, fear, and greed, are always in cycle and at play. The more I identify these strategies and share them, I know I must sound like a broken record. The sensational opinion laded broadcasts are starting to actually become a daily […]
Do Not Give Up
08/12/2016 by
For those of you that know me, you know that I am an eternal proactive optimist, balanced with a dose of realism, and a sprinkle of discernment. I have always prided myself on the ability to take complex issues and simplify them, that is my unique ability and why I love coaching so much. As […]
College Potential Not Promise
08/12/2016 by
I was reading an article recently talking about reinventing college planning. This newly compiled data offers some interesting talking points or conversational topics. It’s estimated that by 2020, 65% of all jobs will require a post secondary education. They argue that having fewer degrees threatens our global competitiveness. I really can’t speak to that out […]
Income – Reverse Engineering
08/12/2016 by
A recent article talked about how a multiplier of eight times your income is the approximate size of the nest egg one would need in order to retire comfortably. In our planning process we prefer not to pull numbers out of the air. Is eight the right number? It may be or may not be. […]
Preparing For Peace of Mind
08/02/2016 by
As Investment Advisors we experience firsthand the roller coaster that many individuals go on emotionally when they start to think about the monumental task of retirement planning. Most issues in retirement can be explained in a logical manner that in reality should trump the emotion. We believe education leads to clarity, clarity to confidence, and […]
20 Investment Questions
06/23/2016 by
What if everything you thought you knew about retirement planning and investing turned out to be incorrect, when would you want to know? Once you did know would you do something about it? The real battle for investors comes when they attempt to exercise discernment not knowing or understanding the mechanisms involved. In other words, […]
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