Determining what constituted a safe withdrawal rate was one of the first questions I tackled. After a year and a half of study on the question, I had realized the inadequacy of the 4% rule and found a methodology which provides more useful when advising clients.
This post explains the methodology for building a portfolio limited to the commission-free exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the eTrade platform.
We recommend this gone fishing portfolio for accounts hosted at eTrade.
In general, the statements should match, but matched accounting down the penny cannot easily be achieved.
Unfortunately, no amount of rules-based compliance can force a company to follow the principles-based fiduciary standard.
“A conventional wisdom withdrawal strategy will almost always leave a lot of money on the table.”
This 2002 post reminds us, “If you rely on a commission-based financial product salesperson, you will probably be sold the wrong kind of funds.” It was also the first article of ours to be featured in the “Charlottesville Business Journal.”
Recommending clean shares does not free the industry from conflicts of interest.
Here is the list of broker-dealers who said the CFP should not expect those with the CFP® mark to not mislead consumer.
SEC-mandated titling will not be enough to save unsuspecting consumers from non-fiduciary financial professionals.
On March 13, 2018, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss finding a life you love. Also in this show: what David Marotta thinks about his own life calling and a discussion of healthcare and insurance in retirement.
It will be a welcome change when the CFP Board can force CFP® mark holders to remove misleading content from their websites.
A question from our readers, “Should I choose to have dividends reinvested or should I receive them in cash and then reinvest them myself?”
It is lazy of the IRS to put the burden of proving innocence on the taxpayer while punishing them as though they are guilty.
Compliance is never simple. Thousands of hours have been spent because the SEC refused to clarify what they expect.
An article in the Wall Street Journal questions the value of regular rebalancing, but regular rebalancing is a key component of modern portfolio theory.
Our primary gone-fishing portfolio includes investments which may have a trading fee in order to invest at the custodian. How much of an investment is worth paying a trading fee?
On February 13, 2018, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss recent market volatility, what you should do in response to the volatility, what Freedom Investing is, and what the Marotta’s Gone-Fishing Portfolios are.
Even very volatile investments may, in moderate amounts, reduce a portfolio’s volatility if the investment is not correlated with the rest of the portfolio’s components.
Talking about the question “How should you manage your money in 2018?” this show covers a lot of ground over 23 minutes of conversation.
Or do they go up indefinitely, albeit interrupted by some significant corrections?
I have gradually been writing a series of articles on each Bear Market to show how quickly they correct and how high the subsequent Bull Market rises.
If you ever wondered how the stock market works, this 2006 article is for you. It is both the personal story of David Marotta’s maternal grandfather, Donald Mortlock, and an explanation of how the market of the stock market is made.
This year, we have made three significant changes and are offering four different gone fishing portfolios based on which custodian hosts your accounts.
This gone fishing portfolio is our default portfolio which can be used at any custodian.
We recommend this gone fishing portfolio for accounts hosted at Vanguard.
We recommend this gone fishing portfolio for accounts hosted at TD Ameritrade.
We recommend this gone fishing portfolio for accounts hosted at Charles Schwab.
Being able to lower total fees while investing part of the portfolio in slightly higher cost country specific exchange traded funds and being able to use exchange traded funds with strategic factors and add a monthly dynamic tilt is a significant accomplishment.
There are reasons to have the stability of fixed income investments for a portion of your portfolio, but switching to bonds because you are afraid of stocks is not one of them.
We have all seen mutual fund ads stating this Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclaimer, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” Let’s take a closer look at it.
On December 12, 2017, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The same grit that drives entrepreneurs to success can drive their investments to failure.
See how much market return you lost to poor fund choices and how much you lost to high expense ratios.
On January 9, 2018, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss ten investment categories that look more attractive than the S&P 500 at the start of 2018.
My understanding is that being the custodian of your own IRA assets is illegal. Also, we believe that investing your IRA in gold is not a good idea even if you have a third party custodian.
Back in 2004, we watched Donald Trump as a reality TV show star. This throwback article is an inspiring reminder that “You’re fired!” can be an opportunity to work for yourself.
Let’s use some of the publicly available information about HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS) to see what factors the stock shares.
Albemarle Insurance Agency’s hiring solicitation shows the difference between insurance salesmen and fee-only fiduciary advisors.
Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is one of the best stories for talking about economics.
Under weighting Canada could have the effect of diminishing your returns. If your fund under weights Canada, consider switching to a lower cost fund which properly represents it.
“When Congress acts, whatever it is called it will do the exact opposite. So the Affordable Care Act will make plans not affordable.”
“Once the incision is made, there is no turning back. And without a clear understanding of economics, our experimental treatment may kill Uncle Sam.” It’s too bad Congress didn’t take this 2009 article’s advice yet.
It looks like something from this proposal will become law. Right now, the bill is in committee where the differences are being resolved.
Every business owner or director of a non-profit should realize that if they don’t take their fiduciary responsibility seriously they are legally liable for their neglect and inaction.
This 2011 post marks the birth of the SEC-required “plain English” descriptive brochure of disclosures. As David Marotta predicted, this new requirement was just another feel-good legislation aimed at making people feel safer without actually making them safer.
I recently watched a video by VOX called, “How tax breaks help the rich.” In the video, they discuss wealth inequality and claim that one of the biggest drivers of inequality is the tax code.
David John Marotta was interviewed on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show discussing the Equifax breach and Financial Peace University.
When the client asked my mother, “What is the quickest way to double my money?” she did not hesitate before she answered.
In retrospect, Financial-Planning’s slide show was another bit of distraction from the real work of building brilliant portfolios for long term investing.