Many Eggs; Many Baskets: The Importance of Global Diversification
As we wrote about back in April (10 Ways To Not Sweat The Small Stuff With Investing), market volatility has once again picked up. If you’re like most, this is a news story that will take your attention from time to time. So with that said, we felt like it was a good time to underscore the perennial value of building – and maintaining – a globally diversified investment portfolio for achieving your greatest financial goals.
Global diversification is such a powerful antacid for when (not if!) we experience market turbulence, it’s why we’ve long recommended spreading your market risks:
- According to your personal goals and risk tolerances
- Between stock and bond markets
- Among evidence-based sources of expected long-term returns
- Around the world
In short, broad, global diversification never goes out of style. > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Waypoint Wealth Management
What Is The “Yield Curve”?
The yield curve is flattening (or growing steeper)! … Yield curve spreads are widening (or narrowing)! … The yield curve has inverted (or normalized)!
Headline-grabbing yield curve commentary somehow sounds important, doesn’t it? But what is a “yield curve” to begin with, and what does it have to do with you and your investments?
Posted by:
Waypoint Wealth Management
Trade Troubles?
You may have heard or read the news of an escalating trade war between the United States and China, which has dominated headlines recently as both countries formally imposed substantial tariffs on one another. In response to the Trump administration’s 25 percent tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods (largely industrial and technology products), the Chinese government levied tariffs of equal size on certain U.S. goods (largely agricultural products). The U.S. government is expected to launch a second round of tariffs on China, worth another $16 billion, in the next few weeks. Then on July 11, the White House announced it is preparing yet another wave of tariffs targeting China to go into effect sometime after August 30.
This most recent trade conflict follows tariffs of up to 25 percent that the Trump administration imposed in June on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, who then countered with levies on U.S. exports ranging from maple syrup to Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
How do these decisions affect you, and is there anything we should be doing about it when it comes to your investments? > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Waypoint Wealth Management
Rate Fears And Your Fixed Income Strategy
What a difference a decade makes. It’s hard to believe it’s been approximately ten years since the “Great Recession” began. By year-end 2008, the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) had lowered the target federal funds rate to near-zero and went on an aggressive easing campaign, hoping to resuscitate the economy with a booster shot of lending, borrowing and spending dollars.
Some would say the economic recovery that followed was a result of these Fed initiatives. More likely, there were a number of contributing factors including technology and innovation. Either way, the Fed has begun to reverse course, restoring its policies and targets closer to historical “norms” through quantitative tightening and gradually rising rates.
Here’s the $64,000 question: as an investor, what can or should you do to prepare if rates do continue to rise? For that matter, what can or should you do if they don’t? As usual, our advice may not be as action-packed as you might crave, but there are a number of solid, evidence-based strategies that stand the test of time. > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Waypoint Wealth Management
10 Ways To Not Sweat The Small Stuff (With Investing)
If you pay attention to the news, you can’t help but hear about how volatility has increased recently. Overall, market temperatures have been so mild for so long, many newer investors have yet to weather a perfect market storm. Even if you have, you may have forgotten how challenging those times can be.
This worries us. Experience and evidence alike show us how severely bear markets test investor resolve. We’ve also seen how damaging it can be to act on rash fear rather than rational resolve during market downturns.
Let’s be clear – we’re not saying that we think markets are about to go south. But we do think that investors should be as informed and educated as possible. So just as we prepare for other emergencies in life, here are 10 timely actions you can take when financial markets are tanking … and, frankly, even when they’re not. > SEE MORE
Posted by: