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Part 1: What’s Wrong with Depending on Dividend Stocks?
How Dividend Stocks Really WorkThere’s a popular perception that “dividend stocks”—i.e., stocks with a reputation for paying out consistent dividends—can deliver decent returns, while also creating
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The Stock Market vs. Stocks in the Market
The collapse of First Republic Bank is a harsh reminder that any stock can go to zero, no matter how established a company is, or how loyal and wealthy its customers are. The failure of what many considered
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Your Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) – What You Need to Know
If you work for a publicly-traded company, your employer may offer you the chance to buy shares of your company’s stock through a program called an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). The idea behind
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How Targeting Size, Value, and Profitability Can Improve Retirement Outcomes
Many retirement investors hold equity portfolios that track broad market indices, either directly or through other investments such as target date funds. Despite their widespread popularity, market portfolios
Continue reading...What Do Points Mean In The Stock Market
TLDR: If you've ever wondered what do points mean in the stock market and how they can affect your portfolio, this guide aims to lift the lid on the daily changes of the Dow, S&P 500 and more.Getting
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10 Obstacles to Investing—and How to Overcome Them
We’ve learned a lot about investing over the past 60 years, a period that has seen many breakthroughs in the world of finance. What we know comes from studying public markets and is grounded in serious
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Use a 529 Plan to Save for College (and Save Thousands of Dollars)
Talking with a friend who has four kids, I suggested he look into using 529 plans for their college savings. I’m not sure if he ended up following the advice, but my guesstimate is that it would have
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Value’s Rebound Rewarded Investors Who Stayed in Their Seats
Value’s recent turnaround has rewarded investors who remained disciplined following its prolonged slump. In addition to reminding us how quickly premiums can show up, the past few years reinforce an
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What Happens to Your 401(k) When You Quit Your Job?
It was the end of 2008. After a long time contemplating it, I finally pulled the trigger.I gave my supervisor my resignation letter. It was past time to go elsewhere. It was probably the second-best professional
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Single-Stock ETFs: The Worst of Both Worlds?
Investors awaiting ETFs with as few stocks as possible are in luck: Single-stock ETFs have arrived on the scene, providing leveraged or inverse exposure to individual names such as Tesla, NVIDIA, Nike,
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5 Simple Steps to Invest for Your Retirement
Would you like to increase your odds of enjoying a comfortable retirement? If you already set aside money from every paycheck for long-term savings, you’re off to a good start. But to really turn the
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Active Management Hasn’t Shined in Volatile Markets
Many investors have likely heard the adage that active management performs better in times of market turbulence. This may sound like an emotional hedge for market stress akin to betting against your favorite
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3 Tips to Save More Money and Reduce Your Money Stress
You’ve heard before that you have to set money aside — money for emergencies, for buying a car or house, for a kid’s college education, and for retirement. This is hardly news. What you may not have
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Hoop Dreaming Is Fun in March. Investing Realities Apply across a Lifetime.
Every year at this time, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament thrills fans and creates so much interest that it’s estimated one in four Americans filled out a bracket to try to predict who will win
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What Are Liquid Alternatives?
Liquid alternatives (or “alts” for short) are investment vehicles that are thought to provide diversification benefits to traditional portfolios made up of stocks and bonds. They often come in the
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How to Invest Better—and Live Better
It can be challenging to start a conversation about investing. That’s why I encourage having a conversation before the investing conversation—what I like to think of as a “preamble.” Connecting
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Quick Budget Hack: Easily Figure Out Your Average Expenses
Article after article on personal finance exhorts you to create a budget. You’re finally (reluctantly) willing to do it. But if you’re gonna do it, you really want to get it done already.You wish somebody
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When Headlines Worry You, Bank on Investment Principles
On Friday, March 10, regulators took control of Silicon Valley Bank as a run on the bank unfolded. Two days later, regulators took control of a second lender, Signature Bank. With increasing anxiety, many
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401(k) Loan vs. Personal Loan – Which Should You Choose?
Individuals often need cash to pay for items like a down payment on a new home, unexpected medical bills, or just simply to consolidate debt. Two common options to shore up money are tapping your 401(k)
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Trust the Financial Advisor Who Trusts the Market
With over 200,000 financial advisors in the United States, how do you pick one?First, eliminate the stock pickers. Those are the people making predictions about which stocks are going to be winners and
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What’s Your True Net Worth?
Many apps today claim to instantly calculate your net worth by adding up your banking and investment accounts and then deducting what you owe on your credit cards and mortgage. But in my mind, that number
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Avoiding Financial Scams and Identity Theft Slams U.S. Quick-Reference
Who Are They? Financial fraudsters are after your assets.Identity thieves steal your personal information (often to then commit financial fraud). What Do They Want? Your Money and Your LifeSocial Security
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Time the Market at Your Peril
Technology enables immediate access to everything wherever and whenever we want it. In many cases, such as staying in touch with friends and family, or learning about world events, that’s a good thing.
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Which Country Will Outperform in 2023? Here’s Why It Shouldn’t Matter.
Investment opportunities exist all around the globe, but the randomness of global stock returns makes it exceedingly difficult to figure out which markets are likely to be outperformers. How should investors
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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back for Investors
Consider everything investors have been through in recent years: a global pandemic, rapid inflation, war in Europe, and volatile stock and bond markets. It’s reasonable to feel uneasy in the face of
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Don’t Buy High: Valentine’s Roses and Investing Lessons
In love as in finance, there is some value in being flexible. Buying high can cost you, whether you’re purchasing roses at their peak price on Valentine’s Day or buying stocks at the same time as
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People Have Memories. Markets Don’t.
One of the best things about markets is that they don’t have memories. They don’t remember what happened last week or last year. They don’t even remember what happened a minute ago. Prices change
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This Has Been a Test: Developing a Financial Plan You Can Stick With
Think back to December 2019. The economy was humming. Unemployment, interest rates, and inflation were at historically low levels. But then what happened?
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Avoid These Investing Mistakes to Reach Your Retirement Goals (Part 3)
While many rail against taxation as an unjust seizure of our money, I firmly hold that taxes (at reasonable levels) are a necessary evil. That’s how we fund things like our national defense, federal
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Avoid These Investing Mistakes to Reach Your Retirement Goals (Part 2)
Most American workers have access to an employer 401(k) or 403(b) plan, and most employers offer a match for employee contributions.
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