Volatility is what drives the stock market, it changes. As it changes, opportunities exist to make money whether betting on a movement up or a movement down of the market. All that is needed to make the stock market work is volatility and what drives volatility? Information.
Can you time the stock market? Over the years, many systems and many experts have tried to do just that. Some have succeeded, but mostly only for a short period of success. The stock market is freewheeling and designed to move the way investors feel it should move. The problem, of course, is that there [...]
For centuries gold has been an asset that many have used as their basis for wealth. Ownership of gold also means you own a direct relationship to volatility. No other asset in the past hundred years has reflected volatility more than gold. If you are concerned at all about volatility, especially with your important retirement funds that must remain [...]
I remember well that statement being made at a financial convention years ago, the speaker followed up his announcement with this: “I just don’t know when!” It seems that the stock market is always going up, and yet his past few days something odd has happened, it has dropped, dropped like a rock. Immediately after [...]
In 1994, amateur economist and investment manager William P. Bengen wrote his famous thesis about withdrawal rates from accumulated funds in calculating retirement income. Here is the link:http://www.retailinvestor.org/pdf/Bengen1.pdf Over the years and due to the financial meltdown of 2008, the amount of withdrawal has been reviewed by many planners as well as projecting economists. Recently [...]
Is the Financial Crisis and Market Volatility Affecting Your Sleep? Financial volatility and the ongoing crisis Have most Americans been exposed to the stock markets volatility? It has caused many people to reconsider timelines for retirement and other lifetime funding option. If your 401 (k) or other retirement investments have been reduced in value or [...]
Selling bonds as an income is ok, but other options are much better and using them does not mean your account can be affected by increasing interest rates, actually the opposite is true. Fixed Indexed Annuities can provide the very income Boomers are looking for and without compensation being charged directly to the Boomer. Plus a variety of options exist especially the BIG one, income can never be outlived.
While dollar cost averaging does not by itself shield investors from market downturns, continuous and scheduled purchases over an extended period of time tend to cancel out the ups and downs of the market, and leave the investor with a net gain and a minimized risk. A variable annuity is more suited for taking advantage of dollar cost averaging because it allows for a specific portion of your annuity investment to be transferred tax free on a monthly into equity portfolios.
