We hope you had a nice Labor Day weekend. Now that summer is "officially" over (step outside and you won't think so), I guess we can start thinking about Halloween, planning for Thanksgiving, and start drinking Oktoberfest beer! Judy and I had a great vacation a few weeks back to Whistler Canada, where they held the 2010 winter Olympics. What a beautiful place to visit, but getting there and back is a pain in the butt! We actually saw Bill Gates (yes, that Bill Gates) and his wife Melinda while out to dinner one night! Wow, I thought the richest man in the world would be traveling with an entourage and security guards, but he wasn't. And no, he did not ask me for my autograph (Haha!). We had quite the experience getting home. The bus from Whistler to Vancouver broke down, we missed our flight check-in by 5 minutes, our new flights were delayed, and it ended up taking about 30 hours to get home! Yikes! I don't think I was ever so happy to get home in my life. Trust me, I won't be looking to get on an airplane for quite a while! Kelly and I have been keeping quite busy at the office, and we're always grateful for that. It's a challenge these days meeting one's retirement goals, but Kelly and I have been very passionate about education, and aligning ourselves with some of the best financial minds in the business. To that point, many of the top economists have been warning about both bond bubbles and equity bubbles. We are now 5 ½ years into an unprecedented bull market. Folks, it won't last forever! Now may not be a bad time to "take some chips off the table", get safer, close down those greed glands, and count your blessings. I've included a very good article written by Dr. Robert C. Merton that was published in the Harvard Business Review. I'd suggest you read it. It's probably the best article I've read addressing retirement planning. As always, if anyone wants additional information, would like to attend one of our workshops, or would like a free "portfolio stress test", just give us a call or shoot us an email. Don't forget to listen to Kelly and me on "The Safe Harbor Retirement Planning Show" on Saturday at 10:00 AM, and Wednesday at 8:00 AM on WSIC AM 1400. Enjoy this month's articles! Until next month,  James Stillman |
|
What is a Fiduciary Standard,
and why does it matter?
Lake Norman Magazine, September 2014
|
I wrote an article about this a little over a year ago, but I've had some requests to do so again. So, here we go with a little bit of a different twist. It doesn't sound like much of a big deal, but these two words - fiduciary and suitability - are critical to determining the type of care you receive from your "trusted" financial advisor. Unfortunately, most of the public is not aware that a very small minority of advisors are actually held to a fiduciary standard, while a majority is held to a much lower suitability standard of care.
Who is held to a Fiduciary standard of care and who to a Suitability standard of care? Currently, only independent Registered Investment Advisors and their Investment Advisor Representatives (RIAs/IARs) are required to act in a fiduciary capacity. Brokers and/or financial advisors working for a broker dealer firm or an insurance company are held only to a suitability standard (not a fiduciary standard). Not sure who's a broker dealer firm? A few well known firms include Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones and Morgan Stanley. Read More... |
|
Corrections Are Not Predictable
GFPC Thought for the Week (311)
|
Synopsis
*Several market participants believe that a correction in the equity market is imminent, solely because we have not experienced one in over two years.
*Corrections are regular and healthy components of equity markets, but the notion that they occur on a regular basis is incorrect. History proves that they are far less prevalent during bull markets.
*These dips in equity prices are completely unpredictable, and investors who are waiting for a correction as an entry point could end up watching the S&P 500 continue to climb higher.
Read More...
|
|
An Explanation for Why We
Haven't Seen A Correction
GFPC Thought for the Week (312)
|
Synopsis
*Several market participants believe that a correction in the equity market is imminent, solely because we have not experienced one in almost three years.
*One possible reason why a correction has eluded the market could be that it has paid to buy the dips in equities, and investors that have supported the market by doing so have profited nicely.
*If the strategy of buying into market dips continues to work, we may not see a correction for some time as long as the economic data continue to point to slow and steady growth.
Read More...
|
|
|
All content is intended for informational purposes only. Any guarantees are for insured products only and are dependent on the claims paying abilities of the insurer. All investments carry some risk and you should be advised by your personal financial advidor before implementing any strategies discussed, as they are not suitable for everyone.
JDS Wealth Management Corporation's outgoing and incoming e-mails are electronically archived and subject to review and/or disclosure to someone other than the recipient. We cannot accept requests for securities transactions or other similar instructions through e-mail. We cannot ensure the security of information e-mailed over the Internet, so you should be careful when transmitting confidential information such as account numbers and security holdings. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer."
|
|
|
|
