I’m so proud of my niece Jessica Iannetta.  She graduated from Syracuse University’s S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in May 2015 with degrees in newspaper and online journalism, and political science. She is now working as a reporter and photographer at the Cecil Whig, a newspaper in Elkton, Maryland.  Today I helped her enroll in her company’s benefits plans, which got me thinking that some of my advice to her...

September 2015 Should Investors Sell After a “Correction”? By Weston Wellington Vice President Dimensional Fund Advisors "Stock prices in markets around the world fluctuated dramatically for the week ended August 27. On Monday, August 24, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,089 points—a larger loss than the “Flash Crash” in May 2010—before rallying to close down 588. Prices fell further on Tuesday before recovering sharply on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Although the S&P 500 and Dow Jones...

This blog post was authored by SAGEbroadview Principal, Larry Annello. Recently I had the joy of bringing a new Golden Retriever puppy named Colbie into our home. Stretching the interpretation of the Family Medical Leave Act, I decided to spend a week at home with Colbie to acclimate her to the new surroundings. What I learned during our time together was that there are behaviors in a puppy that are similar to...

While summer isn’t officially over yet, once those big yellow school busses reappear, it’s hard to not consider it a wrap. Likewise, we’re ready to wrap our summer series of investment basics. We hope that doesn’t mean you stop learning how to invest in ways that bring the greatest meaning to you and your family. After all, to circle back to the beginning, that is what investing is really all about. To...

How do I decide whether to invest in individual bonds, bond funds or both? In our last post, we addressed why we typically advise using stock funds instead of individual stocks to implement your investment strategy. Today, let’s talk about why we usually recommend the same for bonds. For bond and stock investing alike, turning to low-cost, well-managed funds instead of trying to juggle individual securities is a relatively straightforward way...

August 27,  2015 The Patience Principle By Jim Parker Vice President “Global markets are providing investors a rough ride at the moment, as the focus turns to China's economic outlook. But while falling markets can be worrisome, maintaining a longer-term perspective makes the volatility easier to handle.  " To read more: OPEN PDF  ...

We briefly interrupt our regularly scheduled programing (Investment Basics Series) for a special edition of “What Sheri’s Been Reading." How have you been feeling the past few days?  Hopefully you've ignored the gyrations of the stock markets and kept your eye on the long view but if you have not, you might be feeling a little agitated, anxious, panicky even? Are you wondering if you should be doing anything?  Answer:  As long as...

How do I decide whether to invest in individual stocks, stock funds or both? So far in our summer series, we’ve been talking conceptually. As we inch toward the end of summer (bummer), let’s discuss a few logistics. To put rational theory into practice, we feel most investors are best served by avoiding attempts to pick individual stocks. Typically, the far more efficient approach is to build the stock portion of...

What is rebalancing? Why and when should an investor do it? “Buy low, sell high.” The expression is so familiar that it’s become a cliché. And yet, few investors actually follow this most basic advice. Instead, they panic and sell (low) during market crises, and chase already-hot stocks at premium (high) prices. Deliberate rebalancing is one of the best ways we know of to more consistently buy low and sell...

What is diversification and why does it matter to you as an investor? Risk, Return and Diversification If market risk is the fuel that drives expected returns, diversification is your steering wheel for navigating more assuredly toward your desired destination. As we covered in our last post, if you want to earn a return on your capital, you must put it to work in one or more markets. This also means you...