Christmas came early this year for the markets. The idea that falling inflation could mean that the end to the rate hiking cycle is not far off gave both stocks and bonds a boost. Here are 3 things you need to know: The October consumer price index (CPI) showed prices rose 7.7% from a year ago and 0.4% from the prior month, according to the Labor Department, both below expectations. Prices of...
The holiday season is a time when people are especially vulnerable to scams. This is because they are busy and often have their guard down. Criminals take advantage of this by circulating fake e-gift cards, posing as charities, targeting specific demographics, and so on. We will discuss Google's five most popular scams being circulated this holiday season. 1) E-gift card scams. With the holiday...
“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.” – Charles MacKay What is Herding Bias? In behavioral finance, herding bias refers to investors' tendency to follow and copy what other investors are doing. When markets are volatile, it could lead to behavior that is not fully rational such as...
By: Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner I am under the firm belief that as long as the IRS exists, we have job security. Trying to understand and interpret the IRS feels akin to reading hieroglyphics with no formal training. Often the IRS will create a new rule, but it generally takes time for them to interpret and clarify the ruling. We have seen this occur with rules around how...
By: Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner As parents we always want to see our kids succeed and do better than we did. This means many times we want to invest in their future for various things. Most of the time parents want to save for education, but there could be other reasons to save. For example, helping them buy their first home, seed money to start their business venture, or...
By: Henry VanBuskirk, CFP®, Wealth Manager Investing is a broad concept that has a wide array of definitions that differ depending on whom you ask. If you ask a recent college graduate, parents in their early 40s with two young children, and an elderly retired couple to define what investing means to them, you will probably get three wildly different answers. They all have different...
Muhammad Ali, "I don't always know what I'm talking about, but I know I'm right." This quote from the greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali, sums up our next behavioral bias, “Confirmation Bias”. In other words, we start with a view of a particular topic and then search for information that upholds that view. From real-world examples in sports and the news, to how this bias may impact your...
Although this year has felt spooky, the U.S. stock market rallied in October after enduring several straight months of losses, leading to optimism that the end of the bear market may be in sight. Here are 3 things you need to know: The S&P 500 ended the month up 8%. Ten of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 rose during the month, with energy stocks leading the way higher.Gilts (a UK...
By: Henry VanBuskirk, CFP®, Wealth Manager With all of the recent headlines in the news about mortgage rates increasing and waning home affordability, it seems daunting for the first-time home buyer. A 30-year fixed mortgage now exceeds 7%, a level that hasn’t been seen since 2008. That same 30-year fixed mortgage was around 3% just a year ago. The reality here is that you aren’t going...
How much "noise" is the media pushing out to us every day? And even more important, how often does this seemingly important "breaking news" that might impact markets today, actually have a long-lasting impact a long-term results? Find out more here and learn about recency bias, just one of the many biases and habits that lead to poor investing decisions. BFSG Shorts: Recency Bias Disclosure:...
By: Thomas Steffanci, PhD, Senior Portfolio Manager The Q3 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 2.6% was in line with the consensus. But it was anything but normal. The increase was entirely driven by a large increase in the trade balance. Net exports surged 2.8% due to a 1.6% increase in exports of energy commodities and military hardware, and a 1.2% decrease in imports. Inventory...
BFSG’s CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals, Michael Allbee, CFP® and Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, were invited to be guest speakers for the “It’s Your Money!” workshop series. For the “Investment World” session, Mike and Paul focused on how the investment world gets compensated. Learn the differences between brokers versus advisors, what does the word “fiduciary” mean, how to find an advisor,...
Behavioral investing has quickly become one of the most important topics for individual investors, whether talking about their retirement accounts or brokerage accounts alike. This video discusses anchoring bias, just one of the many biases and habits that lead to poor investing decisions. BFSG Shorts: Anchoring Bias Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or warranties as to the...
Congrats to Tina Schackman, CFA®, CFP® for her selection as one of NAPA’s top women advisors for 2022! She’s been named to the “Captain” category – All-stars who are principals of their organization. We are so proud of you Tina! Click here to view the Top Women Advisors: Captains (2022) NAPA list. This year, as in years past, nominees—more than 500 of them—were asked to respond to a series of...
Medicare's Open Enrollment Period — which runs from October 15 through December 7 — is your annual opportunity to switch your current Medicare health and prescription drug plans to ones that better suit your needs. Just in time for Open Enrollment, 2023 Medicare premiums, deductibles, and other costs have been announced, and surprisingly, some of these costs are lower than they were last year....
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