Bonds Make Sense Again!
Bonds, Investing Ben Hockema Bonds, Investing Ben Hockema

Bonds Make Sense Again!

Back in the Spring, I wrote a blog post about how bonds were riskier than stocks, taking into account the role that they each play in most investment portfolios. I discussed the concern that rising interest rates from such as low starting position would create havoc in portfolios. While I believed everything that I wrote, I did not anticipate just how quickly everything discussed would come to pass.

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5 Good Options for Whole Life Insurance Cash Value (plus 1 bad option)
Insurance Ben Hockema Insurance Ben Hockema

5 Good Options for Whole Life Insurance Cash Value (plus 1 bad option)

In Fee-Only Financial Planning circles, it is a continual struggle to avoid blasting the insurance industry for their elaborate marketing of life insurance as anything other than insurance.

In working with clients in their 20’s all the way into their 90’s, we’ve seen countless examples of permanent life insurance sold to people who didn’t need it. Most of these are Whole Life policies that our clients come to us decades after purchasing, but while they are still paying premiums.

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Compounding Explained in a “Not Boring Way”
Basics Lauren Mendel Basics Lauren Mendel

Compounding Explained in a “Not Boring Way”

It sounds like a word they would use on a farm.

As in, “I’ve got some compounding to do down on the back forty so I won’t be able to shuck corn with ya this afternoon”.

In reality, compounding is just one more of those financial terms that many have heard, but few can explain. The first thing you should know about compounding is, obviously, that it is fun to say. The second thing you should know about compounding is that it can be both a force of good and a force of evil in terms of your finances.

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Bonds May Be Riskier than Stocks
Investing, Bonds Ben Hockema Investing, Bonds Ben Hockema

Bonds May Be Riskier than Stocks

One of the staple investment beliefs has historically been that “bonds are for protection and stocks are for growth”. While the evidence has generally backed this up, it is important that we balance what worked before with the current and future investment environment. As every investment compliance attorney has said, “past performance is no guarantee of future results”.

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