Investments Unlimited
A ragtag team of technologists and managers at Investments Unlimited are working around the clock to solve an existential crisis. Regulators have slapped them with an MRIA, a matter requiring immediate attention that could cost the company their license to operate.
Like many morality tales in technology, dysfunctional cross-disciplinary organization is at the heart of the problem.
Personalized Financial Advice
Personal Capital is a financial planning app that uses your entire financial picture to build a personalized portfolio strategy. This includes things like how much you own, how much you owe on credit cards, and your retirement account balances. You can even get a breakdown of how your net worth is changing over time.
It also has some pretty awesome free tools that are more advanced than your average budgeting apps. These include a prioritized list of your most important goals, a real-time dashboard to track progress towards them, and personalized recommendations to help you meet them.
The company also offers a high-yield cash management account that’s similar to an online savings account (with some restrictions). If you pay for the service, the interest rate can be higher than your average bank savings account.
Another cool thing about Personal Capital is that you can link your other external accounts, such as bank and credit card accounts, to show them all in one place. That’s a great way to keep track of all your finances and avoid confusion.
You can also see your investment accounts in a single view, including stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. This allows you to see the overall performance of your portfolio and compare it to the S&P 500 or DOW.
If you’re not sure if robo-advising is right for you, consider starting with a free account before investing any money. You can also get a free consultation from a financial planner to figure out what your best options are for the future.
Finally, Personal Capital is a fiduciary RIA that’s legally obligated to act in your best interests. Its services are backed by a team of financial professionals and state-of-the-art technology to maximize your investment returns. However, you should know that its 0.89% annual management fee is more expensive than competing robo-advisors such as Betterment. It’s still a pretty good deal for the level of personalized advice it provides, though.
High-Quality Investments
Quality investing is a strategy that seeks to maintain performance consistency across different market conditions and investment cycles. It aims to buy stocks of companies that are able to generate free cash flow and return it to shareholders through dividends.
Investing in quality companies can help investors achieve long-term growth while also protecting capital against short-term economic or political volatility. The strategy typically targets companies that are stable businesses that have exhibited strong fiscal health, high profitability and low leverage.
In recent years, quality has gotten more attention as a result of the financial crisis, but it is a strategy that has been around for decades. Benjamin Graham, one of the founders of value investing, put a lot of emphasis on the concept of quality in his research.
As a general rule, a quality stock is a company that has been growing its profits and dividends for a long time. Its earnings are reflected in its share price and it has strong management.
There are several ways to determine a company’s quality, but the most important ones are its growth, profitability, safety (lower k), and payout ratio. The key is to thoroughly research a company and understand its strengths and weaknesses.
Profitability is a key factor for many investors as it is a sign of a company that has a competitive advantage and can produce a return on equity (ROE) that is higher than its capital costs. This is achieved through superior business models, efficient processes and a robust supply chain.
Another factor to consider is a company’s ability to create and reinvest free cash flow. This can be a sign of a company’s sustainability as it can continue to grow its operating margins and reinvest back into the business for further growth.
These companies are generally less volatile than their equity market counterparts and have the potential to produce higher risk-adjusted returns over a complete market cycle than broader market indices.
As 2022 has unfolded, the broader equity market has suffered a strong selloff driven by geopolitical strife, inflation concerns and hawkish central bank policies. During such times, it is common to see people take refuge in higher-quality stocks with stable balance sheets in order to protect their capital and preserve their wealth.
Retirement Tools
A good retirement calculator can help you estimate how much money you need to save and what your income will be in retirement. It can also give you a good idea of the risk of running out of savings before you retire, as well as how long it might take to get back to your pre-retirement income level.
Most of these tools are free and easy to use. They’ll let you input information about your current assets, retirement savings, and annual contributions, and then generate a report showing how your investments will do over time. The best part is that these reports can be emailed to you for later review and analysis.
The newest addition to the list is Personal Capital’s new Retirement Planner, which enables users to run 5,000 investment scenarios automatically from their free financial dashboard. The results are presented in both graphs and tables, and the underlying assumptions can be adjusted.
Another excellent tool is the Vanguard Retirement Nest Egg Calculator, which calculates the probability of a portfolio lasting in retirement based on an asset allocation that is designed to maximize your chances of success. Its interface is easy to use, and its results are based on 100,000 simulations of market scenarios.
If you’re a self-employed business owner, consider opening a SEP IRA. These plans offer higher contribution limits and allow you to profit share with your employees, which may increase your tax-deferred growth potential and reduce the amount of regulation you need to adhere to.
Unlike a traditional IRA, SEP IRAs allow you to contribute pre-tax dollars and your business can also match those contributions. These types of retirement accounts are most commonly used by self-employed individuals and small businesses.
Some of these calculators also include social security benefits, which can be important in determining your estimated retirement income. SmartAsset, Charles Schwab, and New Retirement all provide options for including this type of information in their retirement calculators.
These calculators are great for getting a quick idea of your retirement savings and how long it might last, but they cannot replace the personalized guidance offered by a financial advisor. It is still vital to make sure that your retirement goals are being met and that you’re maximizing your savings.
Relevant Market Insights
In the land of data overload, relevant market information is hard to come by. To make your life easier, we provide access to industry-specific research from the leading publishers via our Knowledge Center. A curated selection of content suited to your needs will give you the competitive edge you need to make informed investment decisions.
It’s all about the right data at the right time. Our seasoned experts will provide the right combination of tools to meet your needs, so you can focus on the important stuff – what matters most. The results will help you create a plan that’s as unique and customized as you are. Optimal planning will ensure that you’ll enjoy the benefits of a secure retirement for years to come. Best of all, you can do it all with confidence.
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