Insights

Anyone who has lived in, rented, or owned a home or apartment has some level of familiarity with real estate. Compared to other investments like stocks and bonds, this familiarity can make rental real estate investments seem like the most straightforward way to produce passive income.

Is an “income investing” strategy right for your portfolio? 

The right answer requires a bit of nuance. While many investors may eventually want to rely on their portfolio for income, doing so does not necessarily require shifting toward income-generating investments.

This Insight explains why. Below, we define income investing, examine some common income-generating investments, and explain why this approach is likely not the best way to maximize total returns.

It’s impossible to know the direction any individual stock (or the stock market as a whole) will go at any point in time. Fortunately, successful investing does not require predicting precisely how investments will be priced at specific times. If it did, investing would be purely based on luck rather than research and analysis.

For many parents, funding higher education is one of the largest, if not the largest expense regarding their children. An unfortunate truth about college education is that it’s expensive and the cost is rising. According to a report from the Georgetown University Center of Education and workforce, the cost of tuition, room and board, and fees has increased 169% from 1980 to 2020.

If you follow the stock market closely, you have probably noticed that what we read in the news oftentimes doesn’t reflect actual market trends. Commonly accepted stock market myths have become so pervasive that they can affect how we choose to invest and how we characterize ourselves as investors.

It’s easy for the long-term investor to look at the S&P 500’s performance in recent years and consider abandoning other asset classes such as US small cap, international and emerging market stocks. After all, the S&P 500 contains brand-name companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple.

As you plan for retirement, it’s important to take time to consider the lifestyle you want and the financial resources you’ll need to support it. This Insight will cover the following 5 strategies for transitioning into this significant life stage, and ensuring it provides you and your loved ones the relaxation and fulfillment you deserve.

Did my investments do well? Many investors look at the unrealized gain/loss on their brokerage statements and believe this is an indication of the return on their investment.

Many investors utilize income-producing holdings such as dividend-paying stocks and/or bonds to generate cash flow within their portfolio. When analyzing the performance or appropriateness of these holdings, it is important to take into account not only the income generated, but also the change in principal value. The method of measuring performance that takes both income and capital appreciation/depreciation into consideration is known as total return.  Total return is considered by many to be the most accurate measure of performance.