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How to Be Financially Responsible with Your Income Tax Return

Getting a tax return mailed or transferred directly into your account is exciting. And although it’s easy to let that excitement lead you to thinking..

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A picture of graduating students tossing their caps in the air after graduation

When Should Parents Start Saving for College?

Next to buying a home, a college education is the largest expenditure most parents will ever make. The key is advance planning. The more money you..

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Securing Your Legacy: The Importance of Wills and Trusts

Creating a comprehensive estate plan is a critical step in ensuring that your wishes are honored, and your loved ones are protected. Two essential..

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four young adults walking away from the camera

Create a Lasting Legacy by Supporting Causes You Care About

By giving to a community foundation, you can support the causes that matter most to you and make a real difference in the lives of others...

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The Power of a Lasting Gift: Why Charitable Giving Through Your Will is Essential

Including your favorite charities in your will is a wonderful way to leave a lasting impact and help make the world a better place for future..

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chart shows that Southwest Florida is still higher than the national average, represented by counties colored in with orange and red

45% to 59% Overvalue of Real Estate?

Today’s chart comes from Fortune, which shows the real estate markets that are “overvalued” based on the area's local incomes and construction costs.

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shows the average cumulative global corporate default rate from 1981-2021 in seven year spans

With Bonds All Things Are Equal

Today's Chart of the Day comes from an article in AAII.com (American Association of Individual Investors) and shows the average cumulative global..

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chart shows that changes made mutual funds go from losing assets to attracting assets

Moving the Goalposts

Today's chart appears in a research paper titled, “Moving the Goalposts? Mutual Fund Benchmark Changes and Performance Manipulation” which was..

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Chart shows the 50% decrease of home sales from August 2020 to August 2022

Housing Slump

Today’s chart comes from data provided by the Department of Housing and Development (HUD) which shows that the rate of new US home sales per month..

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Chart shows the probability curve in relation to investing

7 Investment Concepts

Top 7 Investment Concepts by Samuel A. Kiburz:

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Chart shows the money flows into ESG = Environmental, Social, and Governance ETFs since they appeared in 2015.

The Shying Away from ESG

Today's chart is from Bloomberg Intelligence, which shows the money flows into ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) ETFs since they appeared..

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Chart shows the performance between hedge funds and the S&P 500 from 2014 - 2021.

No More Heydays for Hedge Funds

People may ask, “Why not use hedge funds?” Today's chart comes from Bloomberg and shows us the reason why. In addition to their typical expense ratio..

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chart shows the average return for 20-years ending in 2015

S&P 500 vs. Average Investor

Today's chart comes from OneDigital and shows that the average return for 20-years ending in 2015 was 8.2% for the S&P 500, while the average..

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Chart shows the real returns of stocks, bonds, bills, gold, and cash from 1802 - 2013

Total Return Since 1802

The following chart from Brian Ferdoldi shows the ultra long-term history of real returns from various asset classes dating back to 1802. Real..

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Chart shows the consistent upward growth of the S&P 500 since 1950.

Hard to Hurt Earnings

Today's chart comes from LPL Research and shows the growth of company earnings since 1950. When you buy a stock fund you are purchasing the steam of..

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How to Be Financially Responsible with Your Income Tax Return

Getting a tax return mailed or transferred directly into your account is exciting. And although it’s easy to let that excitement lead you to thinking about which fun items or trips you want to take, a tax return can put you in a better financial position for the future if used responsibly. 

More

When Should Parents Start Saving for College?

Next to buying a home, a college education is the largest expenditure most parents will ever make. The key is advance planning. The more money you save now, the less money you or your child will need to borrow later. It is important to begin saving as early as possible so you can earn interest, dividends, and/or capital gains on as much money as possible.

More

Securing Your Legacy: The Importance of Wills and Trusts

Creating a comprehensive estate plan is a critical step in ensuring that your wishes are honored, and your loved ones are protected. Two essential components of any effective estate plan are wills and trusts. While both serve to distribute assets upon your passing, they possess distinct features and advantages. Let’s explore the importance of having wills and trusts and shed light on how they can provide peace of mind and financial security for you and your family.

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Create a Lasting Legacy by Supporting Causes You Care About

By giving to a community foundation, you can support the causes that matter most to you and make a real difference in the lives of others. Professional staff and portfolio managers help ensure that your donation is used effectively and efficiently. They also provide ongoing monitoring and oversight of the organizations they support, ensuring that your gift is making a lasting impact. The first donation to the Harvard Endowment of approximately $20,000 in today’s dollars was over 400 years ago.  Therefore, a timeline of 500 years for an endowed fund is possible. 

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The Power of a Lasting Gift: Why Charitable Giving Through Your Will is Essential

Including your favorite charities in your will is a wonderful way to leave a lasting impact and help make the world a better place for future generations. By designating a portion of your estate to charity, you can continue to support causes that matter to you long after you're gone.

More

45% to 59% Overvalue of Real Estate?

Today’s chart comes from Fortune, which shows the real estate markets that are “overvalued” based on the area's local incomes and construction costs.

More

With Bonds All Things Are Equal

Today's Chart of the Day comes from an article in AAII.com (American Association of Individual Investors) and shows the average cumulative global corporate default rate from 1981-2021 in seven year spans.

A common misconception is that the yield you see from a bond portfolio is what you can expect to earn. However, this is a best case scenario as some of the bonds will ultimately default, causing a loss that reduces the yield.

In rough figures, if you take the weighted average default rate of all speculative/junk bonds and assume a 50% loss of principal of those bonds, over seven years this can reduce your total return by 2.9% annually.

The current yield to maturity on speculative/junk bonds is 7.6%. When you add in the historical loss of 2.9%, this reduces the total return to 4.7%, which happens to be the same yield of 4.7% in an investment grade bond with a similar maturity.

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Moving the Goalposts

Today's chart appears in a research paper titled, “Moving the Goalposts? Mutual Fund Benchmark Changes and Performance Manipulation” which was referenced in an article from the Wall Street Journal the week of August 22. The paper denotes that 37% of all actively managed mutual fund managers changed their benchmarks between 2006 and 2018, and two-thirds of these changes made the funds appear to improve their performance.

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Housing Slump

Today’s chart comes from data provided by the Department of Housing and Development (HUD) which shows that the rate of new US home sales per month has fallen 50% from 1,000,000 to 500,00 since the peak in August 2020.

More

7 Investment Concepts

Top 7 Investment Concepts by Samuel A. Kiburz:

More

The Shying Away from ESG

Today's chart is from Bloomberg Intelligence, which shows the money flows into ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) ETFs since they appeared in 2015.

More

No More Heydays for Hedge Funds

People may ask, “Why not use hedge funds?” Today's chart comes from Bloomberg and shows us the reason why.  In addition to their typical expense ratio of 2% and 20% of gains above a benchmark, hedge funds have consistently under performed the stock market, denoted by the S&P 500 index, every year since 2014. In fact, they haven’t performed well since their heydays in the 1980s, and even less so since 2007.

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S&P 500 vs. Average Investor

Today's chart comes from OneDigital and shows that the average return for 20-years ending in 2015 was 8.2% for the S&P 500, while the average investor only earned 2.1%. The hypothesis is: Too many investors stop investing when the market is down and/or try to time the market.

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Total Return Since 1802

The following chart from Brian Ferdoldi shows the ultra long-term history of real returns from various asset classes dating back to 1802. Real returns, the returns after inflation, are important to know due to inflation’s elevated levels.

More

Hard to Hurt Earnings

Today's chart comes from LPL Research and shows the growth of company earnings since 1950. When you buy a stock fund you are purchasing the steam of their combined future earnings. Yes, that stream can temporarily decline during recessions, but over time the economy and that stream of earnings returns and continues to grow.

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