Resources

The real rate of return is an important personal finance concept to understand. It’s the rate of return on your investments after inflation. The real rate of return indicates whether you are gaining or losing purchasing power with your money. So if inflation checks in at a rate of 3%, does that mean any investment … Read more

Interest in making an impact with one’s investments has grown in recent years, which means many investors may have an increased interest in environmentally or socially focused investments as well. In fact, impact investments account for $502 billion of managed investments worldwide, with 58% held in North America. Curious to learn more about impact investing? … Read more

Risk is a factor in any investment decision that you make. Your tolerance for risk is something that you will want to consider when you make decisions alongside your trusted financial professional. Your risk tolerance is balanced against your time horizon, meaning the time between now and when you anticipate needing your money. But is … Read more

What exactly is the “sequence of returns”? The phrase describes the yearly variation in an investment portfolio’s rate of return. But what kind of impact do these deviations from the average return have on a portfolio’s final value? Let’s take a closer look at a few different investment scenarios. The first few scenarios focus on how … Read more

Regardless of how the markets may perform, consider making the following part of your investment philosophy: Diversification. The saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” has some application to investing. Over time, certain asset classes may perform better than others. If your assets are mostly held in one kind of investment, you could find … Read more

Everyone loves a winner. If an investment is successful, most people naturally want to stick with it. But is that the best approach? It may sound counterintuitive, but it may be possible to have too much of a good thing. Over time, the performance of different investments can shift a portfolio’s intent – and its risk … Read more

Information vs. instinct. When it comes to investing, many people believe they have a “knack” for choosing good investments. But what exactly is that “knack” based on? The fact is, the choices we make with our assets can be strongly influenced by factors, many of them emotional, that we may not even be aware of. Investing … Read more

WHAT KIND OF ROLE CAN A FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL PLAY FOR AN INVESTOR? The answer: an important one. While the value of such a relationship is hard to quantify, the intangible benefits may be long-lasting. There are certain investors who turn to a financial professional with one goal in mind: the “alpha” objective of beating the … Read more

Many investors are looking to build a portfolio that reflects their socially responsible values while giving them the potential for solid returns. That’s where SRI Investing, Impact Investing, and ESG Investing may play a role. In the past, some investors regarded these investment strategies as too restrictive. But over time, improved evaluative data and competitive … Read more

When the market drops, some investors lose perspective that downtrends and uptrends are part of the investing cycle. When stock prices break lower, it’s a good time to review common terms that are used to describe the market’s downward momentum. PULLBACKS. A pullback represents the mildest form of a selloff in the markets. You might … Read more