Category: Asset Allocation
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How To Respond to Market Drops
Walter Updegrave recently received a question from a reader that lost over 10% of their retirement assets in the last few months (since June). The reader was wondering what they were supposed to do as they are 58 years old. Can he “wait it out?” Should he pull out and cut his losses? Walter outlines…
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Asset Allocation Mix: Not Just Stocks, Bonds & Cash
When it comes to asset allocation, it’s important to get the right mix of equities (stocks) and bonds but those aren’t the only two asset classes you should be aware of. The general rule of thumb, that your percentage of retirement held in stocks should be 120 minus your age and the rest in bonds,…
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Introducing: Life-Cycle ETFs!
It was only a matter of time before ETFs, or exchange traded funds, came in life-cycle flavors. Brokerages started offering life-cycle mutual funds, or target date and target retirement, a few years ago and they’ve become very popular options for folks who want a simple investment product that does all the work for them. No…
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Vanguard LifeStrategy Funds
Lifecycle, Lifestyle, Target Retirement… and now LifeStrategy. Are these all the same things? Are they different? Is it just branding at work? LifeStrategy is Vanguard’s trademarked name for a Lifestyle fund. If you recall the differences between a Lifestyle and a Lifecycle fund, a lifecycle fund is one that changes its asset allocation as time…
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Target Retirement Funds May Not Be Better
Conventional wisdom states that you should take risks when you’re younger, become more conservative when you’re older, and your finances will be better off for it. This is embodied in the typical advice for asset allocation – take 120, subtract your age, and you should have that value, as a percent, allocated towards equities in…
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Diversification Across 401(k) Portfolios
The latest Yahoo Finance article on retirement, courtesy of TheStreet, is one in which they discuss managing two 401(k)s when both members of a marriage are working. The article itself is merely an extension on the discussion of one’s own diversification in a single 401(k) but I think there are some points that it could’ve…
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Why The Fed Rate Cut Should Concern You
Money magazine has an interesting article about how the recent Fed rate cut language indicated that the Fed was more interested in fighting off a Recession than keeping inflation at bay, which was something it had always had its eye on. When the Fed lowers rates, it does so because it wants to spur growth…
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Dow Index Drops 362.14, 2.6% – Now What!?
The day after Halloween, the Down drops nearly a four spot on us, over two and a half percent, and we’re left wondering what the heck we should do. I mean, is the credit crunch starting to take effect? Just yesterday the Fed dropped the target interest rate, things were looking pretty good, and today…
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Check Diversification Across All Retirement Accounts
After years of working, changing jobs, and rolling around 401(k)’s and all the other accounts, it starts to get a little complicated and choatic in terms of getting all the accounts in order. One of the easiest things to do is lose track of your asset diversification because of all the different accounts and it’s…