Archive for August 2011
Frequent Changes in a Portfolio Seldom Produce Desired Long Term Results.
Last Updated on August 30, 2011 by John J. Hohn There were no lakes large enough in South Dakota to entice anyone to go sailing until the mid-1950’s when the 37 mile long reservoir of Lewis and Clark Lake was formed on the Missouri River near Yankton. Locals then took to the sport in earnest.…
Read MoreDon’t Ask Your Portfolio To Do More Than It Is Designed To Do.
Last Updated on August 29, 2011 by John J. Hohn Some people want more from their investment portfolios than gains and income. Like other major arenas in life—some load more baggage onto a portfolio than it is designed to carry. Making more money guarantees nothing except it will make a person wealthier. An unhappy person…
Read MorePsychological Factors Magnify and Prolong the Negative Impact of Market Losses
Last Updated on August 24, 2011 by John J. Hohn Wealthy people can take losses in their retirement portfolios lot easier than middle-income households who have plans for every dime that they have invested. But investors with large portfolios—portfolios that could be reduced by half and still not put their retirement in jeopardy—often fail also…
Read MoreStressed Out Over the Market? Get a Measure of Your Tolerance for Risk.
Last Updated on August 20, 2011 by John J. Hohn NOTE: Risk tolerance is key to the design of any retirement plan. In earlier postings, readers were asked to complete the Flexible Retirement Planner (FRP) to find out how well their funds would hold up over their life expectancy, especially in supplementing their retirement incomes.…
Read MoreTolerance and the Ship of State
Last Updated on August 19, 2011 by John J. Hohn Matthew and Shirley Wirth throw a hell of a bash for all of the guests on the Fourth of July in Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge Funds. At an actual dinner party recently, the subject of the proposed Muslim Center for lower Manhattan came…
Read MoreHow Much Should the Middle-Income Household Risk in the Market?
Last Updated on August 15, 2011 by John J. Hohn Middle-income families often do not have the resources to employ financial advisors. Yahoo Finance states that middle-income households have an average of approximately $110,000 set aside for their retired years. Financial advisors and brokers at major firms like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and UBS Paine…
Read MoreRetirement Planning for the Middle-income Household, One Step at a Time – Part II
Last Updated on August 12, 2011 by John J. Hohn In Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge Funds, Matthew Wirth and Morrie Clay work with wealthy people with large sums set aside for retirement planning. As pointed out in the first article in this series, that is not the case for the middle-class American household.…
Read MoreSo We Have a Deal. Now What?
Last Updated on August 2, 2011 by John J. Hohn The news for the last several days, of course, has been all about the debt ceiling and the debate in Congress about raising it and cutting expenditures. So much has been written and broadcast about the subject that I don’t feel it serves much purpose…
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