Academic studies conducted over the last twenty years have shown the asset allocation decision is the most important variable in controlling the return from a portfolio of securities. This means the importance of the percentage of your money invested in stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, cash, etc., may far outweigh the effects of the individual security decisions. Your asset allocation is more critical to your long-range portfolio goals than the individual securities choices that you have agonized over, time and again.

How Can an Income Annuity Protect Against the Risk of Living Too Long? The purpose of an annuity is to protect against the financial risk of living too long…the risk of outliving retirement income…by providing a guaranteed* income for life.

When the topic is money, few things command more attention than retirement planning. Despite all the time we spend thinking about our retirement income; few people are good at saving and planning for retirement.

Most investors seem to worry about picking the right stocks. However, abundant research on billions of investments shows that is almost impossible. Indeed, efforts to pick the right individual securities generally mean above average risks and below average returns.

In most family situations, it is advisable to establish two funding programs before the establishment of any long-range investment program. These are:
－ Emergency cash fund of three to six months of income
－ Life insurance plan for adequate survivor income

The key strategy in almost all investment portfolio decisions should offer a flexible response to changing circumstances and financial needs. Most successful investment efforts must keep pace with an individual’s present or anticipated situations.

Academic studies conducted … Read more “Asset Allocation"

When saving and/or investing money the ultimate purpose for which the dollars may be used should be kept in mind. Unfortunately, many good investments have an inappropriate time frame for the purpose for which they were acquired.