Behavioral Finance: Why Kevin, Janet, Bruce and Carrie Made the Investment Decisions (and Mistakes) They Did
I recently attended a workshop where I had the opportunity to speak with several investors. Four stand out in my memory for the mistakes they made. Do any of them sound a bit like you? Kevin: Aversion to Risk Kevin, in his mid-50s, had always been afraid of the stock market. Most of his retirement money was tied up in fixed income securities, predominantly a mutual fund composed of Treasury bonds and notes. He did invest a little (about […]
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Date: December 27, 2021
5 Common Concerns Investors Have Today
As COVID-19 continues to recede, investors must re-adapt to an investment environment less distorted by the economic effects of the pandemic. Add to this new environment some of the same concerns that existed pre-pandemic, and there’s a lot of fear and confusion about investing today and in the future. To help investors navigate this interesting time, I publish regular articles to the Heritage Capital blog and speak to national and local media outlets. At Heritage Capital, we also created a […]
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Date: June 8, 2021
#1 Question Asked Since the Pandemic: Am I Invested Correctly Post-COVID-19?
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many investors to alter their portfolios, often not to their long-term benefit. It’s certainly understandable to have wanted to do something in response to this unprecedented catastrophe. The problem is, as is often the case, that emotional responses often lead into unwise financial moves that must be corrected before they do permanent harm. This is especially true when it comes to retirement planning for high net worth individuals, because the more you’re investing, the more […]
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Date: May 4, 2021
Investing in Volatile Markets: Heritage Capital Addresses Concerns
Market volatility is constant, yet it’s common for investors to forget during strong bull markets. We all got a reminder in 2020. With a new year upon us, investors are now asking: What if another 2020 happens? How do long-term investors prepare for volatility? As founder and president of Heritage Capital, I’ve been helping investors since 1988. Volatility fluctuates over time, providing opportunities and challenges for investors who tend to feel more uncertain during highly volatile markets. It is like […]
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Date: January 4, 2021
How to Test Drive Your Retirement: Addressing Retirees’ 3 Biggest Fears
Are you a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty type of person? Whichever camp you belong to, it’s realistic to have concerns about your retirement life. The changes that retirement brings deserve serious thought, and more importantly, action. It’s even better if you can test drive your retirement to see if the plans you put forth really work for you. The team at Heritage Capital has been helping people retire with confidence for more than 30 years. In that time, we’ve identified the […]
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Date: September 28, 2020
How to Retire Without Your Spouse: Investment Strategies for the Divorced or Widowed
Divorce has become increasingly common in the United States over the past few decades, and roughly 25 percent of people 65 or older are widowed. Despite this, however, approximately two-thirds of married couples don’t have a financial plan set up in the case of divorce or widowhood. What happens if you do become divorced or widowed either when retirement is imminent or once you’re retired? Are there investment strategies that can help in either scenario? In our more than 30 […]
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Date: September 14, 2020
Common Questions About a SEP IRA
Your standard IRAs and 401(k)s hog a lot of the attention when it comes to defined contribution retirement plans. While these can be terrific vehicles for creating a long-term nest egg, we don’t want to discount another effective option, the SEP IRA. At Heritage Capital, we’re often asked about the SEP IRA, which can be a low-cost alternative to other employee retirement plans. Can I convert a SEP IRA to a Roth IRA? Can I roll a SEP IRA into […]
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Date: August 17, 2020
Taxes, Retirement and Your Investment Strategies
In response to the economic hardship caused by COVID-19, the federal government extended this year’s tax-filing deadline from April 15 to July 15. The state of Connecticut also extended the deadline to match the new date. While this obviously gave Americans more time to file and pay any amount owed to Uncle Sam, this extension of the tax-filing deadline offers a number of other financial benefits – if you use it to your advantage. There are many long-term and short-term […]
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Date: August 3, 2020
This Week is Usually Down
Friday saw another one of those “ugly on a chart” afternoon reversals as Apple announced a fresh round of store closings in the states that recently reopened. I am sure a lot of people saw the re-openings as easy and as expected, but the truth is much different. It is going to be lumpy and uneven with varying degrees of success and failure. One thing remains a certainty in my humble opinion; the U.S. economy will never be completely shut […]
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Date: June 22, 2020
Routine & Healthy Consolidation in Play
Last Friday, we saw the S&P 500 tick at all time highs for a few seconds. That’s anything but unexpected and certainly not newsworthy. What was “different this time” was that it was the only major index to score new highs before they all reversed sharply to the downside. That made calling for an overall market pullback fairly easy. Over the past few days, the high flying, momentum driven tech stocks, like Google Netflix and Amazon have come under strong […]
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Date: March 26, 2014
