There is a new law affecting the delivery of investment advice that is currently being phased into the regulatory mosaic of the financial services industry by the Department of Labor. The new law is known as the Fiduciary Rule. The goal of the new Fiduciary Rule is to prevent, minimize and disclose conflicts of interest when representatives provide investment advice on retirement assets. Acting as a fiduciary sometimes means advising clients not to take action like investi

There has been a battle going on in Washington about how investment advice pertaining to your retirement savings will be delivered going forward. For those who don’t know about the upcoming changes – known as the Fiduciary Rule - you need to educate yourself so that you understand the kind of advice you are receiving. I don’t think most people want to be told they are getting unbiased advice when conflicts of interest exist. Let me explain: In the financial advice busines

It seems that every election year the pundits bloviate on why this cycle is different than any other election year in history. It appears that the talking heads might be right this time. But before a long term investor wastes unnecessary energy worrying about the outcome and its unpredictable effect on stock prices, there are a few things that should be considered. First of all, a well thought out investment plan and a well-constructed investment portfolio should keep volat

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. -Mark Twain I recently got around to watching The Big Short. I thought the movie was so good that I immediately downloaded the book to my Kindle. For anyone who hasn’t seen the movie or read the book I would certainly put both at the top of your summer list. The Mark Twain quote above was on the screen at the beginning of the movie. The Big Short chronicles the events

One of the most common questions I get from people entering the retirement phase of life is, ‘when should I take my social security benefit?’ That’s because the timing of when one decides to take social security benefits is one of the major factors determining how much income people will receive over which they actually have some control. Basically, waiting will increase the amount of income that will be received and taking the income early will decrease the amount of incom

I can’t remember when I first heard the phrase that is the title of this article. But I’m fairly certain it’s been around for a while and was first used as an analogy relating investor behavior to the stock market. Whether or not the analogy was originally intended to be used as an investing lesson or not is immaterial because it works just fine as one. Essentially, the phrase means that the intelligent investor should be prepared ahead of time for suboptimal conditions.

​ According to Wikipedia, the definition of a financial plan is “a comprehensive evaluation of an individual’s current and future state by using currently known variables to predict future cash flows, asset values and withdrawal plans.” That’s nice to know but you might be asking yourself why you might need an investment plan of some type. For starters, most people have expenses and they have to pay those expenses. So if you already know with 100% certainty what your futur

by James B. Tharin, CFA If you are planning to retire or change jobs and you have an investment in a qualified retirement plan like a 401k, the IRS might have just given you a gift. Or at least they might have made your life a little easier. Recent guidance from the IRS (Notice 2014-54) states that after-tax dollars in a 401k can be rolled over into a Roth IRA for plan distributions taken on or after September 18th, 2014. This is a change from the old rules where partic

by James B. Tharin, CFA At Emerald Asset Management, we believe the foundation to building a more secure financial future begins with a plan. But how does one get started? And how should you implement the plan? Many people find that the help of an experienced, credentialed advisor makes the experience easier to accomplish than they could do on their own. Many people also find that having a professional guide them through the process can give them the added confidence and