Blog - Page 64 of 72 - NorthStar Capital Advisors

How to protect your 401(k) if you leave your job

If you quit, get laid off or retire, you’ve got 4 options for your 401(k) savings:

Leave the money with the your ex-employer
Move it to your new employer’s plan (if that company allows it)
Roll it to an individual retirement account (IRA)
Cash out

Each choice comes with potentially negative consequences for your savings. Learn more in this article:

How to protect your 401(k) if you leave your job http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-do-with-your-401k-if-you-leave-your-job-2011-06-01You thought the hardest part about saving for retirement was figuring out the best place to invest your money? Here’s another head-scratcher: what to do with your 401(k) when you leave your job.

Weekly Market Review ~ Friday, June 3, 2011

It was a shortened trading week due to Monday’s holiday for Memorial Day. Stocks jumped Tuesday on optimism that another Greek debt crisis would be averted thanks to help from European nations. Both the Dow and S&P 500 surged more than 1%. However, May was the worst month for the Dow since last August of last year. The market fell very hard on Wednesday driven by renewed economic worries. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all fell more than 2%. Weak employment, production, and other data suggest the economic recovery may be sputtering. Stocks continue to drift down Thursday. The markets mitigated their losses Friday with the broad market gaining approximately 1%.

Stocks fells for the fifth straight week, the longest decline for the Dow since July 2004.
[table id=13 /]

Fix your money mistakes: Not enough risk

“Probably the biggest shift I am seeing is that clients are solely concerned about their downside. And they are all too willing to give up potential upside just to be sure their downside is protected.”
Even with today’s sub-3% inflation, you can’t hope to keep up if your money is earning half a percentage point at the bank. When your portfolio lags inflation, your purchasing power is gradually chipped away.
Over the past 50 years inflation has averaged 4.1%; during that time, large-cap stocks returned an annualized 9.8%.
“As hard as it may be to stick with stocks, given what has happened history has proved that they have a great record of delivering inflation-beating gains.”

Learn more about common money mistakes and how you can fix them in this article:

Fix your money mistakes: Not enough risk – May. 19, 2011http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/19/retirement/mistakes-too-cautious.moneymag/index.htm(Money Magazine) — With every financial decision, you have to balance two competing urges: the desire to not be poor and the desire to be rich. Lately the former has been trouncing the latter.

$mart Money Newsletter ~ May 2011

$mart Money is a quarterly newsletter published by our company. The lead article discusses how our natural instincts can seriously erode our investment returns and how to avoid these pitfalls. The Investing 101 column reviews the basics of stocks and bonds.

Download your free copy of the $mart Money Newsletter

Weekly Market Review ~ Friday, May 27, 2011

On Monday the Dow dropped 130 points on more European debt concern, this time a Standard and Poor’s downgrade of Italian debt. Weak manufacturing and service sector reports coupled with an increase in new-home sales in April led to a slight delcline in stock prices on Tuesday. The market rebounded slightly on Wednesday, ending a three-day losing streak. On Thursday, stocks once again logged a small gain despite a rise in jobless claims. However, the declining volume as the long Memorial Day weekend approaches makes it difficult to attach any significance to stock movements. Volume plummeted dramatically on Friday with stocks making slight gains to finish off the week with a loss.

The Dow and S&P 500 suffered a fourth consecutive losing week. The S&P 500 (-0.2%) could not quite make it to the positive, while the Russell 2000 (0.9%) managed a gain.

[table id=12 /]

Beware Top Funds With Poor Investor Returns

Investor Return versus Fund Return

Investor return can be very different from the widely quoted figures for total fund return.
For example, the top-rated Fidelity Leveraged Stock fund has an annual return over the last 10-year period of 14.5%. However, the average investor in this fund had an average annual return of only 4.0%.
The reason for the gap is, most investors didn’t buy and hold for the 10 years. Instead, the average dollar in the portfolio stayed invested for short periods.
Many studies have shown that long-term shareholders receive the best returns.

Learn more in this article:

Beware Top Funds With Poor Investor Returns – Yahoo! Financehttp://finance.yahoo.com/news/Beware-Top-Funds-With-Poor-tsmf-514712389.html?x=0If you invested in Fidelity Leveraged Stock a decade ago, your total annual return would have been 14.5%. But the typical shareholder had an investor return of only 4.0%. The reason for the gap is, most investors didn’t buy and hold for the 10 years. Instead, the average dollar in the portfolio…

Weekly Market Review ~ Friday, May 20, 2011

Stocks ticked downward on Monday on renewed concern over the health of the recovering economy following weak manufacturing and housing reports. On Tuesday the Dow took a heavier hit than the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 as more concerning news over the health of the economy continues to cast a shadow on the market. Stocks snapped back on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve minutes indicated that the Fed will not change their monetary policy in the near future, preserving low interest rates for the time being. On Thursday, disappointing manufacturing and home sales reports were more than offset by exuberance over the doubling of networking website Linkedln’s stock price on its first day of trading after its IPO. Stocks retreated moderately on Friday following a downgrade of Greek debt and disappointing earnings and sales reports from Gap and Aerepostale.

It was an over all down week for stocks owing to Friday’s poor performance.
[table id=11 /]

Is Your Money Safe With Your Broker?

Michael Hogan, CEO of FOLIO Investments Inc., helps answer this important question. By the way, FOLIO is the custodian and clearing broker for NorthStar Capital Advisors.

Michael’s key observations:

When fraud is involved, it is generally with introducing brokers who are able to cash your checks, and create a set of fake books.
It is nearly impossible for clearing brokers to commit fraud.
“The main way the system breaks down is when you deal with an introducing broker, and you’re told to deposit money with their firm. They steal it and circumvent the system and create statements with a color printer. You’re disconnected from reality and don’t have a cross-check.”

Michael’s main recomendations:

Only make out your check to its clearing broker, not the introducing broker
Get access to the clearing broker’s website so you can see your account.
Check your balances frequently.

Learn more in this article:

Is Your Money Actually Safe With Your Broker?http://www.businessinsider.com/is-your-money-safe-with-your-broker-2011-5When Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in September 2008, most investors faced a question they had never considered: Is my money safe with my broker?

Weekly Market Review ~ Friday, May 13, 2011

Exuberance over last week’s very positive non-farm payroll report still lingered on Monday, leading stocks to a half-percent gain on Monday, as oil prices exceeded $100/barrel once again. On Tuesday news of Microsoft’s $8.5 billion buyout of Skype propelled the market to another solid gain. Monday’s and Tuesday’s gained were effectively erased on Wednesday as the Euro dropped on further concern over Greek and Portuguese debt. On Thursday the seesaw market action continued with another half-percent gain following a morning swoon in stock prices. Greece’s debt weighed on the market once again on Friday, outweighing a positive consumer sentiment report. The major indexes finished down over a percent.

Stocks finished the week largely unchanged despite rather large swings throughout the week.
[table id=10 /]

Average 401(k) Balances Reach Highest Level Since 1998

According to Fidelity, the average balances of 401(k) retirement accounts reached the highest level since Fidelity started tracking account values in 1998.

Key observations:

The average account balance in the U.S. rose to $74,900 as of March 31, an increase of almost 12 percent from last year
10-year continuous participants have an average balance is about $191,000.
Participants age 55 years or older and are 10-year continuous participants have an average is about $233,800.
About two-thirds of the increase in account balances in the first quarter was driven by market performance, while one-third was from participant contributions
Participants saved an average 8.2 percent of their salaries.
Americans held $3.1 trillion in 401(k)s as of Dec. 31.

These figures show that contributing to a 401(k) early, at a “meaningful” rate and continuing to save makes a difference. Read more in this Bloomberg article:

Average 401(k) Balances Reach Highest Level, Fidelity Sayshttp://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aUstRNlUBCL4May 11 (Bloomberg) — Average balances of 401(k) retirement plans reached the highest level since Fidelity Investments began tracking account values in 1998.

« First ‹ Prev 61 62 636465 66 67 Next ›Last »