Portfolio Advisors Blog

1. You’re financially ready.

The most common question we field from our clients is, “How much do I need to retire?” While there’s no magic number to hit, a few key checkpoints are:

Portfolio Advisors, Inc. will be closed for the following 2019 holidays on the dates listed below:

• Monday, January 21st in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Monday, February 18th in observance of Presidents' Day
• Friday, April 19th in observance of Good Friday
• Monday, May 27th in observance of Memorial Day
• Wednesday, July 3rd in observance of Independence Day
• Thursday, July 4th in observance of Independence Day
• Monday, September 2nd in observance of Labor Day
• Thursday, November 28th in observance of Thanksgiving
• Friday, November 29th in observance of Thanksgiving
• Tuesday, December 24th in observance of Christmas
• Wednesday, December 25th in observance of Christmas

With each office closure we will be back the following business day during normal business hours.

Markets have been up and down this year, which can alarm many investors.  During periods like these, hearing stories about how other people deal with uncertainty can be helpful. 

Our story is from Dave Goetsch, an executive producer of the popular television show, The Big Bang Theory.  Even though he and other writers on the show make common sense out of complicated science for a living, Dave used to respond to market fluctuations with panic rather than logic.  His point of view has changed fundamentally when he learned that there was a different way to think about investing and discovered a new path for his financial life. 

You will recognize many of the headlines and voices in "Tuning Out the Noise" as viewers are taken on a two minute journey through the "lost decade." The video features the media's amplified coverage of headlines and points to the positive outcome that a disciplined investor could have experienced in the recovery.

Click here to view Tuning Out the Noise

At Portfolio Advisors, we strive to achieve a positive financial experience for our clients and believe that an important part of that experience is through the use of low cost, highly diversified mutual funds.  Dimensional Fund Advisors' mutual fund offerings help us to ensure that these, and other important objectives, are met for our clients.  We thought it noteworthy that 1,544 other advisors share this opinion as voiced through a recently conducted survey by Advisor Perspectives, an interactive publisher for Registered Investment Advisors (RIA's), Wealth Managers and Financial Planners.  The survey asked advisors which asset manager they would recommend to their peers, and Dimensional ranked number one in the majority of the categories, including the fund family which advisors are most likely to recommend.     

Click here to view the results from the Advisor Choice Awards^TM

Whether you're retired or preparing for retirement, our 2018 Retirement Calendar and Checklist can be a valuable planning tool. This retirement checklist serves as a great reference for important dates, details, and deadlines throughout the year. We at Portfolio Advisors are here to answer any questions that you may have and to assist you with your planning needs.

Click below to access our 2018 Retirement Calendar Checklist

For many investors, 2017 was a paradox. The harder they tried to enhance their results by basing investment decisions on current events, the more likely they failed to capture the rate of return the capital markets delivered.

Dimensional Fund Advisors Vice President Weston Wellington's article entitled "Nine Experts, Four Surprises, and One Million Dollar Bet," is a great read providing a healthy dose of reality and perspective. Wellington's piece not only tells you where the experts got it wrong, but also addresses "The Million Dollar Bet" made between Warren Buffet, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., and Ted Seideds, a New York hedge fund consultant. If you aren't familiar with this public challenge, made by Buffet, you may want to read this.

At the beginning of 2017, a common view among money managers and analysts was that the financial markets would not repeat their strong returns from 2016. Many cited the uncertain global economy, political turmoil in the US, implementation of Brexit, conflicts in the Middle East, North Korea's weapons buildup, and other factors. The global equity markets defied their predictions, with major equity indices in the US, developed ex-US, and emerging markets posting strong returns for the year.

The broad global advance underscores the importance of following an investment approach based on diversification and discipline rather than prediction and timing. Attempting to predict markets requires investors to not only accurately forecast future events, but also predict how markets will react to those events. The 2017 markets were a good reminder that there is little evidence suggesting either of these objectives can be accomplished on a consistent basis.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are receiving intense media coverage, prompting many investors to wonder whether these new types of electronic money deserve a place in their portfolios.  Please click the link below to learn more about whether an investor should consider investing in Bitcoins.

To-Bit-or-Not-to-Bit_-What-Should-Investors-Make-of-Bitcoin-Mania.pdf

It will soon be the 10-year anniversary of when, in early October 2007, the S&P 500 Index hit what was its highest point before losing more than half of its value over the next year and a half during the global financial crisis. What are the lessons for the next crisis? This, another article with the benefit of hindsight, provides a useful perspective for investors. To read the article please click here: Lessons-for-the-Next-Crisis.pdf