Money Series

  • Market Correction – A Normal Occurrence
    The stock-market correction of 5% to 10% is a normal occurrence. Despite all the corrections, equity market rises in the long-term.
  • Is Real Estate Syndication Investment Right For You?
    Real estate investment can provide diversification and hedge against inflation. Is it a right fit for you? Read more in this article.
  • Do You Know the Style of Your Investment Portfolio?
    Your investment portfolio has a particular style from large cap to small cap and from growth to value or somewhere in-between? Do you know the style of your investment portfolio? It’s time to “look under the hood”.
  • Top 3 Reasons to Hold Bonds in Your Portfolio
    After a decline of more than 20% during Pandemic in 2020, the US stock market is again at all time high. While bond yields have been going down since the 1980s. As of April 2021, US 10-year Treasury bond yield is close to 1.5%. Considering average inflation of 2% to […]
  • Why Roth IRA for Your Kid Is a Good Investment?
    I know for a kid retirement may be a strange concept; however, investing your kids “earned income” using an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is the best financial decision. For instance, if you kid made money by doing office work, modeling, data entry, any other part-time work and earned income, the […]
  • Backdoor Roth IRA: Step-By-Step Guide
    Do you know that you contribute to Roth IRA even if your income is too high? The process is called backdoor Roth IRA. Here is the step-by-step guide to perform backdoor Roth IRA.
  • How to Write an Investment Policy Statement?
    Do you have an investment policy statement (IPS)? If not, you should consider writing one. Because it will lay the groundwork for your financial success. In fact, think of your IPS as your “long term view” of your financial success.
  • Should You Expect A Santa Claus Rally?
    The S&P 500 has generated positive returns 79% of the time since 1950 during the Santa Claus rally. Should we expect it in 2020?
  • What Is ESG Investing?
    The objective of any investment is to achieve growth. But what if you can grow your assets and at the same time be socially responsible? Such options have gained traction recently in the form of ESG investing.
  • Books Suggestions
    Here is the list of financial books for your consideration. All of these books made a significant difference in our wealth building journey. Hope it makes a difference in your wealth building journey.
  • Do’s and Don’ts of the Bear Market
    Bear market declines are hard to stomach for any investor. In fact, during bear markets or during large market declines, it is a challenge to stay the course when the majority are panic selling. This article discusses do’s and don’ts to consider during bear markets or during large market declines.
  • Is It Worth It To Tilt Your Portfolio Towards A Small Cap?
    Based on the last 10-years of risk and return measures, small cap stocks are underperforming and are more volatile compared to the large cap stocks. Is it worth it to tilt your portfolio towards a small cap stocks? Read more in this article.
  • Risk and Return: Standard Deviation and Sharpe Ratio
    Standard Deviation is one of the most common measures to gauge volatility of a mutual fund or an ETF. Sharpe Ratio measures risk-adjusted return of an investment. How do you use these statistical measures to evaluate the performance of a fund or an ETF in your portfolio? Read Here.
  • Risk and Return: Making Sense of Alpha and Beta
    Alpha and beta are risk and return measures of the investment. Alpha represents the unsystematic risk. Beta is used to measure systematic risk. Average investor like you and I cannot control the systematic risk (beta) but we can manage unsystematic risk (alpha) with diversification. Investing in a broadly diversified index fund is one of the ways to manage unsystematic risk.
  • 5 Keys to Successful Investing
    The five keys to successful investing are Risk, Discipline, Patience, Time and Investor Psychology. Read more in this article.
  • Why Is Tax Efficient Investment Important?
    Consideration of tax efficient investment is important because it will reduce your tax burden. In essence, tax Efficiency is about saving taxes by investing strategically among tax-advantaged accounts and taxable accounts. The bottom line of tax efficient investing is reducing your tax burden by either saving on taxes or defer […]
  • Term Life vs. Whole Life Insurance
    A life insurance policy is for the ones you leave behind. It should be one of the most important items on everyone’s to-do list.
  • Why Should You Consider Asset Protection?
    You should consider protecting your wealth by implementing an asset protection strategy such as Personal Umbrella Policy.
  • India’s Stock Market: An Introduction
    This article is an introduction to India’s stock market. One of its indexes, BSE SENSEX, generated an impressive annualized return of 16% from 1979 to 2019.
  • Market Timing Is Not An Investment Strategy
    Market timing could potentially cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. So avoid market timing and stick with your investment plan.
  • What Is A Realistic Rate of Return For Retirement Planning
    Is 10% rate of return a good number to use for retirement planning? May be not, if your investment time horizon is 15 to 20 years. Read more in this article.
  • Is The Time To Invest in Gold Now?
    In the first week of August, gold was trading above $2,000 for the first time in history. Citi economists predict that gold could reach $2,300 in next six to twelve months, while Bank of America predicts the gold could reach $3,000 over the next 18 months! According to this CNBC […]
  • Should You Abandon Tax-Exempt Bond Fund?
    As you know, the majority of securities held in a Tax-Exempt Bond fund are municipal bonds issued by state and local governments. For instance, at least 75% of the securities held by Vanguard Intermediate Tax-Exempt Bond Fund (VWITX) are municipal bonds. High unemployment, loss of tourism, collapse of oil and […]
  • Saving for Retirement Using the Engineering Equation!
    In this post, I will be demonstrating how the process of saving for retirement is analogous to the engineering equation! As with any engineering analysis, firstly, we will start with a problem statement. Secondly, we will review variables. And finally, we will review the end result. Problem Statement So here […]
  • 4 Roadblocks To Achieve Retirement Savings Goal
    Do you know that the national average retirement savings balance for all ages is $95,600 according to Fidelity? If you review the data further, the average retirement savings balance is $160,000 for age groups 50 to 59 and $182,100 for age groups 60 to 69. These average retirement savings may […]
  • The Tale of Retirement Savings: $417 to $2.8 million
    Your retirement savings has potential to grow from $417 to $2.8 million over 40 years with consistent investing from every paycheck! Yes, it is possible! How? Read on!  After you decide how much to contribute in a 401(k) and/or Roth IRA, it’s time to decide where to invest your retirement […]
  • How to invest your savings from your first paycheck?
    One of the best places to invest your savings from your first paycheck is the retirement accounts: a 401(k) and Roth IRA. Why? Because investing $10,000 per year in your retirement accounts starting in your 20s will make you a millionaire in your 60s!  What are 401(k) and Roth IRA? […]
  • Enjoy Now or Save for Retirement
    When I talk to younger colleagues at work, the question “enjoy now or save for retirement” often comes up. When we hear about planning for retirement in our 20s most of us cringe. We immediately think about the frugality required to save for an unknown future which is decades away.  […]
  • What is Your Risk Tolerance?
    Risk tolerance is defined as “an individual’s willingness to take risk when a possible outcome is negative”, according to the CFA Institute Research Foundation. In other words, risk tolerance is the willingness to accept negative outcomes in pursuit of favorable rewards in the future. The investment time horizon is one […]
  • Why is managing inflation risk important?
    All investments are associated with Risk. Even the safest investments such as the U.S. Treasury securities issued by the US Department of Treasury and Certificate of Deposits (CDs) issued by FDIC-insured banks or credit unions are associated with risk, Inflation Risk.  What is Inflation? Inflation indicates a decrease in the […]
  • What are the steps to prepare a budget?
    How many times have you heard the statement, “live below your means” or “Spend less than you take home”? The concept is simple enough although It will take discipline and planning to implement it. You will need to know your estimated expenses to develop the budget on a paper. However, […]
  • How to start wealth building?
    What is financial wealth to you? For some, it’s an expensive house, expensive car, and luxury travel. while for others, it’s the ability to put kids through college, save for retirement, and have a paid home. No matter what financial wealth means to you, financial education, planning, and good investment […]
  • Why Invest in Money?
    Why invest in money? Financial independence was our motivation to start Investing in Money. Money can buy food, shelter, utilities, clothes and many other tangible necessities to live a comfortable life. The countless philanthropists, charities, non-profits, social services need money to fulfill their vision. The current COVID-19 pandemic sent millions […]