This time of year, you may be thinking about socking some money in an IRA. But which one should you use—a Traditional, or a Roth? You get more tax savings now with the Traditional, but could the Roth be the better deal in the long term? We are going to look at this issue today and in my next post...
Last year saw two very shocking financial events. One was the abrupt decline in oil (see my 21 January 2015 post). The second was the steady rise in the U.S. Dollar. For the first time in 25 years, the dollar gained against all 31 of the world’s major currencies, according to John Mauldin in his
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February 2015 marks the 40th month of the bull market in U.S. stocks. What’s so special about 40 months? It’s the average length for a bull market in America since 1835.
As I’ve often said before, there are seasons in the investment markets, just as there are seasons in weather patterns. Here in...
A lot of shocking things occurred last year. One of them was the plunge in oil; another was the dramatic rise in the U.S. dollar. Both have some very interesting implications for us. Today, I’m covering oil, leaving the discussion on the Dollar for another day.
Here’s a chart of Oil futures...
There’s no middle ground with New Year’s Resolutions. You either like them or you don’t.
Whether or not you’re a fan often depends on past experience. If you’ve had good experiences with New Year’s resolutions, you like them; and if you haven’t, you don’t.
Being self-employed AND a financial...
With Christmas six days away, I can’t imagine too many of you eager for a financial discourse.
So, instead I offer some lighter fare. A joke courtesy of Guy-Sports.com. ( http://www.guy-sports.com/jokes/christmas_jokes.htm#Funny_Christmas_Stories)
Saying a Prayer for the Christmas Meal
Lee, A...
Watching my children play makes me dizzy. The oldest finds a toy and begins to play with it. As soon as this happens, the other two girls swoop down on her as if it’s the only toy in the world. After five minutes (if that) Makayla puts the toy down and moves on to another one. At which time the...
My mother always told me, “Mack when you buy a house, the three most important things to remember are location, location, location.” Believe it or not, I actually took her advice on this. With three girls under age 4, I’m very happy I listened.
This principle can be applied to investing as well...
Having a time-tested process is crucial to long-term investment success. (See my last post here: http://www.mackcourter.com/blog/investing-tip-3-have-process) This sounds obvious, but once you have a process you need stick with it through thick and thin.
No matter what the investment strategy...
We all know someone who never seems to know what they want to do with their life. They jump from job to job, or relationship to relationship, or hobby to hobby. We shake our heads and say to ourselves, “Gee, they need to put down some roots!”
The thing is, many of us can be like this when it...
It’s amazing the difference in coloring skills between my three year old and my four year old. My four year old uses a lot of different crayons to color in her coloring book. Red, blue, orange, green—they all manage to get on each paper. I think she does a better job than I do coloring.
My...
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, or so the saying goes. My dad and I have spent the last couple Saturdays building a playhouse/swing set for my girls. I couldn’t imagine building it using just a hammer. Even an accomplished carpenter (which I certainly am not) would...