Education planning is a complex issue. A disciplined approach to saving and investing can help remove some of the uncertainty from the planning process. With the increasing price tag of higher education, talking to your advisor about investment vehicles for college is crucial. Check out this in depth look by Dimensional Fund Advisors at planning for higher education, and contact us if you want to know more about the significant benefits of funding a 529 [...]

Making investment decisions based on the outcome of presidential elections is unlikely to result in reliable excess returns for investors. At best, any positive outcome will likely be the result of random luck. At worst, it can lead to costly mistakes. This presentation takes a historical look at how major US, international developed, and emerging markets indices have performed during or after a US presidential election. Market Returns During an Election Year  

  The financial markets have rewarded long-term investors. People expect a positive return on the capital they supply, and historically, the equity and bond markets throughout the world have provided growth of wealth that has more than offset inflation. Companies compete with each other for investment capital, and millions of investors compete with each other to find the most attractive returns. This competition quickly drives prices to fair value, ensuring that no investor can expect [...]

This report features world capital market performance and a timeline of events for the past quarter. It begins with a global overview, then features the returns of stock and bond asset classes in the US and international markets. The report also illustrates the performance of globally diversified portfolios and features a quarterly topic: Presidential Elections and the Stock Market. Quarterly Market Review

The decision to take a loan out against a 401(k) needs to be well thought out. It is tempting to look at the stack of funds sitting there in the company 401(k) plan, and think of it as your own piggy back to borrow against.  It's very important to remember that these funds are supposed to help support a retirement that could last 30 years or longer. A wrong move can have lasting and devastating consequences. I recently [...]

(Research above shows only 20% of all active mutual funds beat their corresponding index over a 10 year time frame.  And of those, only 37% continued over the next 5 years. This is only 205 of 2758 mutual funds that beat their index over a 15 year time frame.  It's nearly impossible to pick the right ones) Some investors select mutual funds based on past returns. However, funds that have outperformed in the past do not always persist [...]