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 [...]

Recently, a Park + Elm client asked for some advice on handling his finances now that he is a new business owner. Small business owners are in a unique financial position, so we created a 5 step process to follow during your ownership years. Many self-employed investors won't have the same range of assets that a life-long employee would have at retirement, so planning for your eventual exit from the business is also crucial. 1. Think in Percentages: Think about [...]

Don’t try to outguess the market The market’s pricing power works against mutual fund managers who try to outsmart other participants through stock picking or market timing. As evidence, only 17% of US equity mutual funds have survived and outperformed their benchmarks over the past 15 years. Even so, traditional investment approaches strive to beat the market by taking advantage of pricing “mistakes” and attempting to predict the future. Too often, these approaches prove costly [...]