Opinion: This time-tested strategy takes investing risk head-on

From: marketwatch.com

In 2015, a diversified investment portfolio didn’t really protect you from the market’s gut-wrenching volatility.

There’s a good chance that 2016 will be a repeat, this time with bond funds suffering through a rising-rate environment, stocks struggling against volatility, emerging and international markets offering little help, and cash and money markets offering only near-zero returns.

As a result, the new year again has investors…

Here’s what happened the last 10 times the stock market disintegrated into a bear market

From: finance.yahoo.com

No one wants to dwell on the bad times, but sometimes it’s important to look back to know what the future may hold.

In JPMorgan Asset Management’s massive guide to global markets, David Kelly and his team included a look at the past 10 times the US stock market has headed into a bear market.

Defined as…

Last Year Was Big for Corporate Bonds – What About 2016?

From: financial-planning.com

(Bloomberg) – Corporate bonds had a big year in 2015, but it was not necessarily a good one.

Goldman Sachs analysts led by Lotfi Karoui highlight 15 records broken by the corporate bond market last year, including many that left many advisors and investors unhappy.

For example, high-yield bonds sold by companies with more fragile balance sheets recorded their worst annual…

Kitces: A Counterintuitive Approach to Liquidity

From: financial-planning.com

Liquidity may be an appealing characteristic for an investment, but a growing base of research is finding that illiquidity may be even more desirable. Ironically, demand for illiquid investments is so low, that they appear to carry persistent excess return premiums. This view has been popularized in recent years by people including David Swensen of Yale Endowment, who racked up a whopping 13.9% annual…

The Ease of Index Funds Comes With Risk

From: nytimes.com

The logic of investing in index funds has so far seemed simple and compelling for growing numbers of people.

Why spend the time researching individual securities and run the risk of choosing the wrong stock in the wrong sector when you can simply buy the market as a whole? Put your money in an exchange-traded fund, or E.T.F., or in a traditional mutual…

What is an ETF?

From: ishares.com

5 ETF Must-Knows

1. What is the difference between ETFs and mutual funds or stocks?

iShares ETFs combine popular features of both. Like a mutual fund, an ETF is a collection of stocks or bonds. And like a stock, you can buy and sell an ETF throughout the day as long as the market is open.

2. What are the benefits of ETFs?

They can help you grow your money….

6 Unexpected Expenses In Retirement

From: forbes.com

What will it cost you to live in retirement? Like many people, you might try to answer this crucial question by using an online budgeting app or by looking at what others tell you is a good rule of thumb. While these tools might provide a starting point, it’s important to keep in mind that the expenses you face today may not be the ones…

Big, scary stock market sell-offs happen all the time in bull markets

From: businessinsider.com

The markets have been getting rocked.

Stocks in the US were lower for a fourth straight day on Friday with all 30 Dow stocks lower.

Friday’s intra-day low of 1,970 on the S&P represents a 7.6% drop from its intra-year high of 2,134.

So, is it time to panic?

It’s important to note that big sell-offs occur all the time,…