3 COMMON INVESTING QUESTIONS ANSWERED

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QuestionsAnswered

If I had to select the top three questions that I’m asked most often by new members and coaching clients, the questions would undoubtedly be the following: 1)  WHAT SHOULD I INVEST IN? There are two primary factors that determine what you should be investing in:  1) Your personal investment criteria and 2) The current investing and economic landscape. Both are independent variables, but both should be taken into consideration. Starting with your personal investment criteria, this includes things like your current level of disposable income, your level of risk tolerance, and your long-term financial objectives.  For example, if you’re 50+ Continue reading →

CONSUMER DEBT & INVESTMENT DEBT

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Credit cards are one of the most common forms of consumer debt

We’ve been conditioned to think that debt is bad – and in many cases, it is. Whether you blame peer pressure or clever marketing campaigns, I think we can all agree that the pursuit of status symbols and instant gratification has come to define our modern culture.  When we want something, we want it NOW.  And we don’t just want it, we NEED it. Something about the phrase “low monthly payments” has a tendency to overwhelm logic and reason.   Our rational, objective side gets trampled by emotion as we thumb passed the cash in our wallet in search of plastic.  Continue reading →

THE PROBLEMS WITH YOUR JOB

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Frustrated Employee

I can feel you rolling your eyes right now. As if you really need me pointing out everything that’s wrong with your job, huh?  I’m sure you’re more than capable of figuring out this one on your own. Well, there are a lot of problems with the whole job concept in general: workplace politics, discrimination, sitting in traffic, high taxes, favoritism, lack of control, big egos… I could keep going. Well, I’m of the opinion that the biggest travesty associated with jobs is that they commit the cardinal sin of directly linking time with earnings.  With a job, you’re trading hours Continue reading →

LIKE SHOPPING? THEN YOU’LL LOVE INVESTING

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Crowds storm a shopping mall on Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving – known as “Black Friday” – is the busiest shopping day of the year.  News channels will often broadcast clips of people camping outside their favorite store days in advance.  And once the stores open, the crowds are absolutely maddening.  Fights occasionally break out between shoppers.  There was even a news headline a few years ago about an employee accidently being trampled to death as they tried to open the doors so customers could get inside.  Unbelievable. So what drives this kind of irrational consumer behavior?  Is it drugs?  Well, if you’ve been reduced to camping Continue reading →

INVESTING IS A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

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Technology has lowered the barrier for investors

If you were a woman or a minority in 1950s America, you faced some serious adversity in your pursuit of a paycheck.  Heck, that’s still the case in some parts of the country.  It’s an unfortunate reality that some folks occasionally encounter. But as investors, we get to operate under a different set of rules. You see, as an investor, you don’t have to concern yourself with age, race, or gender discrimination.  As an investor, it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, black or white, fat or skinny, young or old.  It doesn’t matter what side of the tracks Continue reading →

THE THREE APPROACHES TO INVESTING

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Investing for Capital Appreciation

As you begin exploring the investment landscape, you’ll quickly realize that there are plenty of investment choices to select from.  There’s no shortage of available options.  Nevertheless, when you break down all the various financial strategies and techniques, there are really only three primary approaches to investing that we can pursue as self-directed stewards of our money: 1)   Investing for Tax Reduction 2)   Investing for Capital Appreciation 3)   Investing for Income Let’s take a look at these three approaches individually: INVESTING FOR TAX REDUCTION With this approach, you’re investing to reduce your tax exposure.  Taxes are right up there with Continue reading →