Should I Buy an Annuity?
Annuities can be a very hot button issue.
Therefore, instead of giving you an answer about whether they are good or not, I thought I would put together a quick video that breaks down the framework I use when considering whether to buy an annuity.
Annuities can be a very hot button issue.
People seem to really love them or really hate them.
I’m not one of those people.
I think they are great in the right situation and not so great in others.
Therefore, instead of giving you an answer about whether they are good or not, I thought I would put together a quick video that breaks down the framework I use when considering whether to buy an annuity.
Based on the video, what are your thoughts? Do you think an annuity might be right for you?
This information is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
Should I Own Highly Volatile Assets Like Bitcoin?
The decision about whether to include highly volatile assets like Bitcoin in your portfolio is a very controversial topic in the investment world. You can ask two advisors what they think and get two completely different answers.
In this video, I provide a mathematical framework that will empower you to draw your own informed conclusions on whether to include assets like Bitcoin in your portfolio.
The decision about whether to include highly volatile assets like Bitcoin in your portfolio is a very controversial topic in the investment world. You can ask two advisors what they think and get two completely different answers.
In this video, I provide a mathematical framework that will empower you to draw your own informed conclusions on whether to include assets like Bitcoin in your portfolio.
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
Debunking Dave Ramsey's Advice on Safe Withdrawal Rates
Dave Ramsey could not be more wrong about what you should assume as a safe withdrawal rate in retirement.
For those not sure, a safe withdrawal rate is the amount of money you can pull out of your account per year during retirement and never expect to run out.
I love Dave Ramsey's advice regarding budgeting and getting out of debt. However, his advice about safe withdrawal rates and the assumptions you should use about how much money you need to save for retirement is dangerous.
This video includes a 5-minute clip from his show along with the full analysis to show why his 8% withdrawal rate is wrong and why a 3-4% withdrawal rate assumption is more appropriate.
Dave Ramsey could not be more wrong about what you should assume as a safe withdrawal rate in retirement.
For those not sure, a safe withdrawal rate is the amount of money you can pull out of your account per year during retirement and never expect to run out.
I love Dave Ramsey's advice regarding budgeting and getting out of debt. However, his advice about safe withdrawal rates and the assumptions you should use about how much money you need to save for retirement is dangerous.
This video includes a 5-minute clip from his show along with the full analysis to show why his 8% withdrawal rate is wrong and why a 3-4% withdrawal rate assumption is more appropriate.
Links:
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
How to Improve Financial Plan Success
We all want to improve the odds of reaching our financial goals.
If that is the case, how should we construct our investment portfolios so they might help accomplish that intended purpose?
In this video, we review the theoretical results of a variety of portfolios and see how diversification can potentially improve your financial plan success.
We all want to improve the odds of reaching our financial goals.
If that is the case, how should we construct our investment portfolios so they might help accomplish that intended purpose?
In this video, we review the theoretical results of a variety of portfolios and see how diversification can potentially improve your financial plan success.
The Monte Carlo simulations shown in this video can be found at the links below.
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
Optimize Your TSP Using the Mutual Fund Window
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Mutual Fund Window opened in June 2022. It provides TSP participants with access to thousands of mutual funds that can provide diversification to their core TSP holdings.
In this webinar, we will review what the Mutual Fund Window is, how it works, and whether using it might be beneficial for you. We will also discuss its limitations and review alternatives you may want to consider to improve your retirement portfolio.
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Mutual Fund Window opened in June 2022. It provides TSP participants with access to thousands of mutual funds that can provide diversification to their core TSP holdings.
In this webinar, we will review what the Mutual Fund Window is, how it works, and whether using it might be beneficial for you. We will also discuss its limitations and review alternatives you may want to consider to improve your retirement portfolio.
Links to the backtest data shown in the presentation:
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
The Problem With (Most) Workplace Retirement Plans
Most workplace retirement plans are great at providing access to low-cost stock and total bond market index funds along with target-date retirement funds. Unfortunately, it often stops there.
There is a whole world of diversification outside of these assets that can potentially improve your portfolio.
In this webinar, we will:
Review the concept of diversification and take a look at the math behind why diversification can improve your portfolio
Compare standard 401k offerings against this diversification framework to understand the limitations of most plans
Discuss other assets that you may want to consider adding to your portfolio
Review other accounts you may want to use to access these assets
Most workplace retirement plans are great at providing access to low-cost stock and total bond market index funds along with target-date retirement funds. Unfortunately, it often stops there.
There is a whole world of diversification outside of these assets that can potentially improve your portfolio.
In this webinar, we will:
Review the concept of diversification and take a look at the math behind why diversification can improve your portfolio
Compare standard 401k offerings against this diversification framework to understand the limitations of most plans
Discuss other assets that you may want to consider adding to your portfolio
Review other accounts you may want to use to access these assets
The data used in this video can be found at the links below.
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
Balancing Your Portfolio
A 60% stock, 40% total bond market portfolio is often considered to be a "balanced" portfolio.
As it turns out, it isn't very balanced.
In this video, we literally use a balance to better understand how unbalanced the 60/40 portfolio is and alternatives we may consider to find better balance.
A 60% stock, 40% total bond market portfolio is often considered to be a "balanced" portfolio.
As it turns out, it isn't very balanced.
In this episode, we literally use a balance to better understand how unbalanced the 60/40 portfolio is and alternatives we may consider to find better balance.
Portfolio Visualizer data shown in this episode can be found here.
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
How Do I Improve Investment Efficiency? - Part 1
Engineers are very familiar with the equation for efficiency:
Efficiency = Output/Input
We want to know we are getting the most productivity out of a system or machine in order to make the best use of resources or energy.
Our investment portfolio should not be any different. We should want to get the most return for the amount of risk we are taking.
In this episode, we take a look at the types of risk we can use as inputs in our investment machine. We will also review the Sharpe ratio, which is the widely used measure for efficiency of investment return and consider how we can go about increasing the Sharpe ratio of our portfolio.
The data included in this video was obtained from Portfolio Visualizer’s Asset Class Allocation tool found here.
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
Why Should I Care About Volatility?
When most investors think about volatility, they think about riding a roller coaster or a wave. They know the path of more volatile portfolios has a larger amplitude than smaller portfolios but the additional risk may lead to higher returns over time. While many investors think about how bumpy the ride may be, not many investors consider the variability of outcome that comes with higher volatility.
In the first episode, we saw how diversifying across a basket of companies can lead to a portfolio that has similar expected return with less volatility than investing in a single company. In this episode, we will take a look at why that matters and how that lower volatility can lead to a higher probability of success in your financial plan.
The data included in this video was obtained from Portfolio Visualizer’s Monte Carlo simulation tool found here.
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.
Should I Own My Employer's Stock?
Many engineers have the opportunity to own stock in the company they work for. Whether it’s through a 401k match, Employee Stock Purchas Plan (ESPP), Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) grants, stock options, etc., owning a piece of your company can be a great way to build wealth. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best way to build wealth.
In this video, I take a look at the difference between owning shares of an individual engineering company vs. owning a diversified portfolio of engineering companies. I break down the math to show that diversifying across many companies is generally going to be your best bet.
The data shown in this video was obtained from the Portfolio Visualizer backtest available here.
“I am passionate about helping people improve the efficiency of their finances!”
Fiduciary Financial Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser and does not give legal or tax advice. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. The information contained herein has been obtained from a third party source which is believed to be reliable but is subject to correction for error. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a guarantee or representation of future results.