Series I Bonds have been in the headlines more than usual due to the recent rate hikes conducted by the Federal Reserve. Per the Treasury Direct website Series I Savings Bonds that were issued May 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022 offer a 9.62% interest rate. This sounds wonderful considering the low-interest rate environment we’ve been accustomed […]
In almost all cases (assuming your Modified Adjusted Gross Income allows it), you should prefer to contribute annually to a Roth IRA rather than to a traditional IRA. It was in 1993, as a postdoctoral fellow at Texas Tech University, that I had a fateful conversation about saving for retirement. I got chatting with a […]
Millennials were born between 1980 and 1996, meaning in 2022, millennials are 26 to 42 years old. If we imagine retiring at age 65, that gives us 23 to 39 years to save for retirement. Investing and saving for retirement is one of those things where a little goes a long way. What I mean […]
People and businesses worldwide are encouraged more so than ever to do the right thing. This includes things like being environmentally conscious (recycling, sustainability), being fair to workers (human rights, anti-corruption, equal pay), being green-leaders (low carbon footprint, clean-technology innovators), and many others. As consumers, we love it. It feels great to support businesses that […]
We’ve talked before here at Weathtender about the importance of socially responsible investing. There is, without doubt, a growing trend for investors (and consumers) to care about the impact they’re having on the world. Alongside this, there is an inevitable consequence. If we all care more about where our money goes, investing in ethical companies becomes […]
The trap that gets even financial experts and banks In the mid-1950s, my parents bought their first house using a fixed-rate 15-year mortgage. The payments were exorbitant – almost half of my dad’s take-home pay. By the time they paid off the loan in the late 1960s, the same payment cost only as much as a […]
Take a play out of NASA’s playbook: Stress test your investment portfolio, identify risks, and learn if your retirement plan needs adjustment. My day “job” as a consultant is supporting NASA technology-development efforts. From time to time, I also support NASA flight projects. If there’s one thing NASA excels at, it’s developing complex missions and […]
An investment portfolio should be built based on a client’s risk and return objectives along with an assessment of their constraints. While downside protection is a common focus, the advisor must ensure that a portfolio’s probabilistic return outcomes are sufficient to meet the spending power needs of the client based on their time horizon. Analysis […]
It has been estimated that almost 90,000 Americans were involved in investment scams in 2021 alone, losing a total of around $1.58 billion. This indicates an increase of around 82% based on the previous year, so to say that these scams are becoming more prevalent would be an understatement. While most of us believe we […]