AdviceIQ Articles

  • Hey, Romney, Go to a Roth

    Submitted by Joseph A. Clark on Tue, 05/08/2012 - 9:00am

    Mitt Romney has made a lot of money in his business career and managed it well. The big question is: Why hasn’t he converted his huge individual retirement account to a Roth IRA?
     
    The likely answer is inertia. After paying tax on its growth and switching his money into a Roth, the proceeds grow tax-free and he won’t be forced to start withdrawing at age 70½. Not everyone has the wealth of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. But Romney’s example suggests that everyone should take a look at whether a Roth conversion makes sense.
     

  • Overlooked Overseas Stocks

    Submitted by Yale Bock on Mon, 05/07/2012 - 3:00pm

    Overseas stocks are a diverse bunch. But even after last week’s worldwide downdraft, the bourses in several overlooked nations show terrific double-digit advances this year: those in Thailand, Japan, Germany and Egypt.
     
    Despite the European financial mess and other international turmoil, they have bested broader indexes. MSCI EAFE and Emerging Markets benchmarks are up 6% and 10% this year.
     

  • Target: Second Home Loans

    Submitted by Barry Glassman on Mon, 05/07/2012 - 12:00pm

    Is the mortgage deduction for second homes on the congressional chopping block? Next year, odds are that lawmakers will overhaul the tax code. This deduction is a juicy target. That’s bad news for the rest of the housing market.

    At a private fundraising event recently, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said that at top on his list is eliminating the second home mortgage deduction for high earners.

  • Compound Interest Magic

    Submitted by Donna Lea on Mon, 05/07/2012 - 9:00am

    The earlier you start, the less you have to save to reach your retirement goals. You hear that a lot, but have you figured out how much starting earlier means? Investors who start when they are young benefit from the miracle of compound interest.

    Compound interest occurs when interest earned is added to the principal, so that it also earns interest. Don’t confuse this with simple interest. That’s where interest is not added to the principal and thus does not collect interest itself.

  • The Student Loan Millstone

    Submitted by Donna Lea on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 3:00pm

    The amount Americans owe in student loans has surpassed any other forms of debt.  Student loans are the fastest growing debt. What can they do about it?
     
    Nationally, the cost of higher education is increasing. On average, college inflation is roughly 7% to 8% per year. Increasing tuition has an unexpected ripple effect. Many Americans face difficult, long-term consequences far after graduation.
     

  • Advisors’ Horror Stories

    Submitted by Larry Light on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 12:00pm

    Oh, the horrible things that happen to people. Every financial advisor has horror stories that they lived through, much like battlefield medics tending the wounded after the fight. They did their best to save wounded investors.
     
    A troubled couple one day came to Craig Poeppelman, an advisor with Harper Associates in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Their portfolio was in tatters. They had an advisor, whom Poeppelman calls Hannibal. This guy did not do a good job for the couple.
     

  • China’s Health Is Delicate

    Submitted by Barry Glassman on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 9:00am

    Little-appreciated fact: China’s health is delicate. For most of the past two years, investors have been pre-occupied with the fiscal catastrophe in Europe – and with good reason. But the relative health of the world’s second largest economy deserves more consideration.
     

  • An Advisor for Everybody

    Submitted by Larry Light on Thu, 05/03/2012 - 3:00pm

    Financial advisors serve the full palette of humanity. Yes, some prefer wealthier clients. But many opt for younger folks of more modest means. Reason: In coming years, their incomes and assets will expand.
     
    “We grow with them,” says Craig Poeppelman, a financial advisor with Harper Associates in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Engineers, accountants and doctors do not make much when they are starting out, he says, but they gain earning power over time.
     

  • 6 Market Survival Tips

    Submitted by Barry Glassman on Thu, 05/03/2012 - 12:00pm

    Unpredictability is the one certainty in investing. How do you prepare yourself and your portfolio for it? I have six recommendations.
     
    But first, recognize that no one can predict the market. "My crystal ball is in the shop."  That's how I usually answer the impossible question of where things are headed in the markets over the coming days, weeks and years. And I’ve been getting that question a lot recently as change seems to be the new normal.
     

  • Real Estate Returns

    Submitted by Lewis J. Walker on Thu, 05/03/2012 - 9:00am

    Commercial real estate, badly buffeted in the financial crisis, once again shows promise. The best evidence is what is happening at AIG, whose real estate-oriented investments almost killed it.
     

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SMART ADVICE

 

A Tragic Mistake: ‘I Don’t Need Help Handling my Money’

 

By Larry Light, Editor-in-Chief

May 1, 2013

 

We all like to think we’re smart and self-sufficient. A lot of folks believe they can manage their financial lives by themselves. These do-it-yourselfers are woefully wrong.

 

AdviceIQ is about giving the world the wisdom of smart, honest (none can have any regulatory infractions) advisors. Are we blindly pro-advisor? No, we are clear-eyed about being pro-good advisor. Everyone, even the financial cognoscenti, should have such a helper to sort out life’s perplexities.

 

Lamentably, the financial crisis and the Bernard Madoff scandal convinced many to steer clear of advisors. According to a Deloitte consulting firm study, 57% of those polled say they’re more comfortable handling their retirement planning on their own. Plus, 38% contend they need no professional advice to plan.

 

Really? A story from Paul Sullivan shows how wrong-headed they are. Sullivan is enormously well-versed in personal finance, which he writes about for the New York Times. But it turns out that even he could use some help with his portfolio. One day he went before Tiger 21, an investment club of very wealthy (with at least $10 million in net worth) types who assessed his financial situation. To Sullivan’s surprise and dismay, the group found major holes: He and his wife didn’t have enough insurance, they carried an unneeded vacation home and spent too much.

 

The blasé DIY attitude vexes Edmond Walters, founder and chief executive of eMoney Advisor, which provides support services to advisors. He watches discount broker TV ads that promise you can direct your investments by yourself, without paying an advisor. “It’s dangerous,” he says. “The ads say you can come home after work and spend a couple of hours trading a month. But the professionals have a lot more information than you.” Result: You get slammed.

 

As the Times’ Sullivan attests, it’s good to have a more knowledgeable someone guiding you, an expert who keeps up with all the arcane changes in the financial arena. Do you know how much disability coverage you need? Are you saving adequately for your kids’ education? How much money are you wasting for no good reason? Will your investments support you through your retirement?

 

Walters spent almost two decades as an advisor before he started his current company. “But,” he says, “even I have an advisor.”

 

 

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