All Investing Articles

If you're worried about the dramatic ups and downs in the U.S. stock market, you can still count on one thing for sure: You're not alone. Plenty of people have panicked and sold off their mutual funds, raided their bank accounts or taken other ill-considered steps they may well regret later on -- or at least that's the perspective of financial planners, who unanimously advise against hasty Read more...

Turning a novice investor loose with an Internet investment account is like leaving a kid alone in a candy store. Everything looks good and promises such wonderful rewards, but overindulging -- especially in the wrong confection -- can bring with it a world-class upset stomach. To begin, understand that all investments have their inherent perks and pitfalls. Some may promise richer Read more...

Think of how important your retirement savings are. You can't afford to make many big mistakes -- especially as the years go by and you accumulate substantial sums of money in your tax-deferred retirement plans. One common mistake among risk-averse investors is to seek safety at the expense of growth. Putting all your money in a money market fund may keep it safe from volatility, but it won't Read more...

One of the greatest dangers to any retirement plan is that insidious erosion of purchasing power commonly known as "inflation." A weekly trip to the gas station or supermarket is enough to drive home the point. While younger, working Americans have opportunities -- often through increased earning power -- to overcome inflation, those in retirement or close to it are particularly Read more...

A great many people are reading The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. It's almost 1,000 pages long, and if there's anything about Warren Buffett that isn't there, I'd be surprised. I haven't read it -- all those pages! -- but at the earliest possible opportunity I'm going to consult the index, in the hope of learning how Buffett maintained a marriage and a mistress Read more...

"I have not looked at any of my holdings and I don't intend to. I don't want to be tempted to jump because I think I'd be more likely to jump in the wrong direction than the right one. My advice has always been to choose a sensible, diversified portfolio and stop reading the financial pages. I recommend the sports section." Source: Richard Thaler, professor of behavioral science and Read more...

To help individuals understand how to create a reliable, sustainable source of retirement income and make the most of their assets, MetLife today launched an innovative online Income Annuities Guide. The interactive online tool demonstrates how a retirement portfolio including an income annuity can help boost spending power as well as provide more guaranteed income. Many experts typically Read more...

When Shakespeare observed, "What fools these mortals be," he easily could have been referring to our tendency to buy unnecessary or downright useless insurance. Granted, some insurance coverage is absolutely necessary, including home, health, auto, life and long-term disability. Ignore these at your peril. But on more than a dozen policies -- especially narrowly focused Read more...

In investing, a return that sounds big is nice, but it’s what you get to keep after taxes that counts. That’s a fact that even sophisticated investors can forget. To make it easier to remember, we have created the following table. It shows at a glance the yield you would need to earn from a taxable investment to equal what you could get from one that is tax-free. Now, one quick Read more...

Sep. 23, 2008 -- As the federal government's bailout of the financial sector takes shape, where's the smart money going? The Bee asked five local finance and business experts what they've been doing with their own investments in the last two weeks, and how the bailout has changed their thinking about the future. Brad Barber, Professor of Finance, University of California, Davis, Graduate Read more...

Q: Dear Tax Talk, When a traditional IRA is moved from one bank or credit union to another, how long before I can move it to another bank? --Maria Dear Maria, IRAs are held with financial institutions. The institution is referred to as the custodian. The frequency with which you can transfer funds from one custodian to another depends on the type of transfer you make. You Read more...

These are scary times for anyone trying to build or preserve their retirement accounts. Today's roller coaster ride of economic ups and downs -- with swings in the Dow Jones average of 500 points or more in just a few days -- is enough to churn stomachs in all but the most steely nerved passengers. Is this simply another predictable, even healthy, correction in a long-term bull market? Or Read more...

I am flattered that ThirdAge.com refers to me as an “expert voice” when it comes to investing. And one thing I know as an expert is that there are other experts in this field. And from time to time, I will comment on their work. Today’s book review is the first. Maybe you are working too hard—reading too much, digesting too many expert opinions, over-analyzing everything -- when it Read more...

I have nothing against Parade magazine. Honest. In fact, if James Brady ever tires of doing the celebrity interview on the back page—this week it was with model Heidi Klum—I’ll be happy to take over for him. (Even if it means I’ll have to start reading People and Us and watching Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.) That said, the magazine’s cover story in early Read more...

The terrible performance in the stock market recently has some very smart people thinking about violating some of the basic rules of investing. Here’s a question I got recently that makes the point. “Paul, with all due respect, although in most instances I would agree with you that it makes sense to eliminate credit card debt, paying it off at any cost and in all circumstances does not Read more...

With the stock market continuing to under-perform, now more than ever it is important to pay attention to the fundamentals of investing. Here are five tips that will allow you to earn a bit more or spend a touch less. Tip #1: Pay Yourself First It’s harder to spend money that you never touch. That’s why we are big believers in “paying yourself first.” The strategy means that Read more...

Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth—well, in the early 1990s—I had a nationally syndicated radio talk show heard on 168 stations on The Business Radio Network. (I was extremely big in Buffalo, for some reason.) For three hours a night I answered questions from people about what they should do with their money. (How much would they need for retirement, what should they be saving for Read more...

See also: Business Radio Network, Dow Jones Industrial Average, stock market, Wall Street

As a rule of thumb, the yield on 30-year Treasury bonds is always: a) equal to the current inflation rate. b) 1% more than the current inflation rate. c) 3% more than the current inflation rate. d) 5% more than the current inflation rate. e) 10% more than the current inflation rate. See answer on next page. Answer: C. Although yields vary due to a number of factors, if you add 3% Read more...

If you own shares in a publicly held company: a) It must pay you a dividend in the form of cash. b) It must pay you a dividend in the form of stock. c) It must pay you a dividend in the form of either stock or cash. d) It may pay you a dividend. e) It won’t pay you a dividend. See answer on next page. Answer: D. Whether a company pays dividends is up to its board of Read more...

An old-fashioned run on the bank, with panicked depositors pounding on the doors and demanding their money back, is something most people have seen only in the movies. It happened in real life with the failure of IndyMac Bank. Now investors of all stripes are wondering where is the best place for their money. Have things gotten so bad that the only safe place is under your Read more...