by admin | Apr 19, 2015 | Advisor Stream
I trust that you have been enjoying our recent run of glorious spring weather.
It’s always a very good practice to check in on the people who are providing you with professional advice to make sure that you are getting full value for the price that you are paying.
This practice also applies to the financial advisor community of which I am a proud member.
Here is an an excellent article that outline 4 terrific questions that everyone must ask their retirement advisor.
I’m happy to share my own answers to those questions if you like.
Cheers,
Mark Hudon, CFP,.CCS
Certified Financial Planner, Certified Cash Flow Specialist.
4 Questions Everyone Must Ask Their Retirement Advisor
In honor of National Retirement Planning Week, now is a good time to take a step back and think about who is helping you with your retirement planning. A financial advisor can be a powerful resource for those heading down the road to retirement. Whether you already have a retirement advisor or you are considering one, there are certain things you should know about a professional before engaging him or her to act as your retirement advisor.
Read more here
by admin | Apr 12, 2015 | Advisor Stream
For this week’s featured article, I thought I would give financial topics a rest, and instead touch on a subject that I know many people are very passionate about-the love of wine.
I am by no means a wine connoisseur, but one thing I do enjoy when it comes to wine is exploring new and interesting wines that are off the beaten path.
For the wine lover in your family, here is a great article called 5 Tips For Travelling in Lesser-Known Wine Regions.
Have a fabulous day.
Cheers,
Coach Mark
Off The Beaten Wine Path: 5 Tips For Traveling In Lesser-Known Wine Regions
Visit a Winery Near You! If there was a slogan for the entire North American wine industry, that may be it. That’s because few experiences enhance the pleasure of wine like visiting the place it’s produced, whether you walk through the vineyards, or peer into the barrel room, or wander through the production area itself. With the travel season just around the corner, here are five tips for visiting those lesser-known wine areas that are available to us all.
Read more here
by admin | Apr 6, 2015 | Advisor Stream
First off, I want to wish a very Happy Easter weekend to you and your family.
The arrival of Easter, also coincides with the arrival of spring and warmer temperatures on the horizon. I know that we could all use some sunshine and warmth after a cold winter.
One of the biggest challenges that many families face (mine included) is how to balance the inherent benefits of putting our kids in sports or other activities against the high cost that these activities entail.
In our house, we have two boys who are actively involved in a number of sports including hockey, rep baseball, swimming, basketball & soccer.
Each of these sports requires a serious commitment of both time & money.
My wife and I both see the benefits of raising healthy & active children, but at times we struggle with where to draw the line.
Here is a great article that sheds some very much needed insight on how to keep from spending a fortune kids’ sports.
Be sure to pass it along to someone you know who shares this same dilemma.
Happy Easter.
Cheers,
Coach Mark
How to keep from spending a fortune on kids’ sports
After much thought and consideration, my husband and I decided that it is finally time to get our kids started in a few sports and activities this year. Although I enrolled my children in their first sport willingly, I didn’t take this decision lightly. As we all know, getting children involved in sports and activities can be expensive in both time and money, and it can be a slippery slope that can escalate over time and last for years. Since my kids are still young, I want to take a thoughtful approach now — before things get out of hand. I want my kids to learn and grow. I want them to get involved and stay active. What I don’t want is to go broke doing it. Here are some tips on how to keep from spending a fortune:
Read more here
by admin | Apr 1, 2015 | Advisor Stream
There are copious numbers of articles and information written on how to invest your money-and specifically how to invest for retirement.
I come across them everyday and I know that my clients and contacts do as well.
While some are useful, many provide contradictory advice that just leads to confusion for many investors.
I do my best to seek out and find articles that will provide you with a core approach that when implemented will help you to achieve your long term goals, and dreams, and help you to build funds for retirement that will stand the test of time.
Here is an excellent article, that is in line with my own core philosophy.
Expect Success,
Coach Mark
The Best Way To Invest For Retirement
Turn on CNBC for two minutes and it’s easy to believe you need to stop everything and invest in the hot stocks the “experts” are recommending and get out — NOW! — of the ones they’re bearish about. Chris Minnucci, author of the ironically titled The Death of Buy and Hold: How Not to Outlive Your Money — Investing for, and in, Retirement, says do so at your own peril. Minnucci, an early retiree and self-taught investor, says you’ll be far likelier to make your retirement money last if you take a more cautious, deliberate approach to investing, using diversification using what he calls “the principle of correlation combined with the complementary principle of compromise.”
Read more here
by admin | Mar 25, 2015 | Advisor Stream
One of the cardinal rules of being a successful long term investor is diversification.
This is a principle that virtually every investor is familiar with and one that every financial advisor holds out to be gospel.
Then why is it that we often look back upon our investment portfolios with frustration and disappointment when one particular area is under performing while another is shooting the lights out?
If this is what proper diversification is designed to do, than why does it create so much consternation?
Here’s a great article to help provide some perspective on the subject.
Cheers,
Coach Mark
Diversification Is the Sane Alternative to Betting Big on One Investment
You made a huge mistake last year with your money. You know this now, right? The only investments in your portfolio that did very well were probably United States stocks. Bonds may have held their own, but everything else was just pitiful. International stocks performed horribly and emerging markets weren’t much better. What were you thinking? Clearly you missed a big opportunity in 2014. You should have skipped diversifying and gone all in on United States stocks. But seriously, with no proven model for picking the next winner, can you really afford to bet big on any one investment? If you had to, could you even pick one, and only one, investment for the rest of this year? The answer can’t be no! Don’t you know by now who the winner will be in 2015?
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by admin | Mar 16, 2015 | Advisor Stream
For many people crunching the numbers to determine whether you will have enough to enjoy a comfortable retirement can be very intimidating & stressful.
In fact, coming to grips with your own “retirement reality” is something many people, like the author of this attached article tend to procrastinate on.
However, like the author discovered, when you take the time to go through some retirement planning questions and gain clarity around what a comfortable retirement means to you, you find that your reality is not so scary after all.
I encourage you to read the enclosed article to gain more clarity around your own retirement reality.
If you would like a helpful guide to take you through simple exercises, I know someone who can help you out….wink wink, nudge, nudge.
Cheers,
Coach Mark
Retirement Reality Is Catching Up With Me
New York times columnist John Schwartz writes about approaching retirement with trepidation. He says: I am an idiot. That, at least, is the impression I get from personal finance websites and magazines and books. They all seem to say I’m doing pretty much everything wrong when it comes to my financial life, basically because I don’t pay that much attention to my finances. But with some consultation and some strategizing, he makes the point that retirement reality is nothing to be afraid of.
Read more here
