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One-quarter of Americans say they will not go to the bathroom without their devices.

The Rise of the Toilet Texter - NYTimes.com

18 hours ago

The economic downturn in 2008 adversely affected investors’ opinions about wealth managers. Regaining their trust will require reaching and communicating with them through more dynamic channels, including social media.

Tweet by MichaelKitces

1 week ago

One thing that no all-in-one investment product does well is manage taxes. Almost everything complicated about investing comes down to taxes. We have all these different accounts (401(k), Roth IRA, 529 college savings plan, taxable brokerage account) that are taxed in different ways.
To make matters worse, different investments are taxed differently. Interest on bonds is taxable at your ordinary income rate. Most stock dividends are taxed at a lower rate. Then there’s short-term and long-term capital gains rates, which range from zero to 35%, depending on… Oh, let’s not get into it.
What this means, in short, is that if you have a mix of taxable and tax-advantaged investment accounts, like a 401(k) plus a regular brokerage account, it’s a bad idea to reproduce the same portfolio in both places. You’ll pay more tax than necessary. Automated services like Wealthfront or target-date funds don’t take this into account. They can build you a nice diversified portfolio, but if it doesn’t consider your tax situation, it’s not the best portfolio for you.
Traditional financial advisors are good at playing this tax game.

Are Portfolio Management Apps Right for You? | MintLife Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice

1 week ago

bank and credit union executives say their organization’s lack of marketing investment is what holds them back, this despite the fact that nearly half saw their budgets increase in 2012. They also feel that their I.T. systems are limiting, that it’s difficult to get employee support for marketing initiatives, and (of course) there’s always a boatload of compliance headaches.

Tweet by brettking

2 weeks ago

As active managers, we believe that unexpected market events happen frequently, and that the tails of a normal probability curve don’t accurately account for their likelihood. We also think risk can be managed: Viewed through the lens of the market cycle, wise investors should take less risk when the economy is going to contract, when other investors are overly enthusiastic, and when risk assets are expensive or overvalued. On the other hand, informed investors should take more risk when the economy is expanding, when other investors are overly depressed, and when risk assets are cheap. We believe that short-term market movements (measured in days) are impossible to forecast, but that over the market cycle, we can assign probabilities for both the news and investor response to it; that helps us determine how best to manage risk in our client accounts.

Managing Different Kinds of Risk

2 weeks ago

The funds, which have become an integral part of many Americans’ 401(k) plans, are designed to protect investors by decreasing their exposure to stocks and increasing their bond holdings as people get closer to retirement, or their “target” year. But the average fund with about four years until its target date fell 0.4% in 2011, according to Morningstar Inc., a fund-research firm. That trails the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, which gained 2%, including dividends, and is well below the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index, which rose nearly 8% for the year.

Target-Date Funds End Another Year Far Away From Bull’s-Eye - WSJ.com

2 weeks ago

Index funds tend to beat actively managed funds over time given their low costs.

Fund Expenses More Important Than 5-Star Status - NYTimes.com

2 weeks ago

If past performance is any indication of future returns, it’s not surprising that investors are skeptical of the mutual fund industry. In the past five years, more than two-thirds of the 5,000-plus funds followed by Morningstar have done worse than the underlying stock and bond indexes they’re supposed to beat, or at least track. That sorry performance has left millions of people fuming and frustrated — to the point where investors have yanked $340 billion out of stock funds since January 2008.

The Top 100 Mutual Funds - SmartMoney.com

2 weeks ago

Schwab, like other 401(k) providers, found efforts to educate employees haven’t proven so successful — and only 10% of workers take advantage of such offerings. So the company just announced a new index-fund-only 401(k), which will keep expenses down, and include mandatory advice on investments. “Many employees don’t understand what they are losing to expenses — sometimes 55 to 110 basis points,” says Jim McCool, an executive vice president at Schwab. “They don’t realize what a drag it is on their retirement savings.

Secrets of the 401(k) Millionaires - SmartMoney.com

2 weeks ago

the secret behind Google’s somewhat bland design was that if Google looked like it was designed by a machine, users would implicitly understand that Google search itself was unpolluted by strong opinions

is-too-much-plus-is-a-minus-for-google

2 weeks ago