Blog - Your Total Wealth

Asset Allocation - Planning for long term success

Financial Literacy Financial Planning stocks

ASSET ALLOCATION 101

Asset allocation, at its most basic level, is deciding how to spread (allocate) the risk across your investment portfolio: stocks vs. less-risky instruments such as bonds and certificates of deposit (CDs). These decisions will be the primary determinant of your investment performance; i.e., your portfolio’s rate of return. Beyond this seemingly simple decision, you must consider how much to invest in domestic stocks, international…

David A. DubofskyJanuary 13, 2023

Financial Literacy Understanding Debt

Forbearance

If you (or someone you know) are having difficulty repaying a loan, consider asking for forbearance. It will likely prove to be the best gift you receive this holiday season. This is a concept that is rarely, if ever taught, in business school. Many (most) college educated individuals in finance may not be familiar with it. Enjoy, and share our discussion of…

HSF PublishingDecember 12, 2022

Financial Literacy Monetary Wealth

TIME VALUE OF MONEY

FINANCIAL LITERACY AND THE TIME VALUE OF MONEY With interest rates near 14-year highs, we should revisit the phrase, “Time is Money.” You may have even used the phrase yourself. It has special meaning when applied to investing and financial planning. Lyle and I are happy to present our “Time Value of Money” lesson, taken directly from Your Total Wealth. …

David A. DubofskyNovember 15, 2022

United States Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) : What is it, what does it do, and why should investors be grateful it exists? Chances are most investors have just a superficial understanding of this important government agency, But anyone working with a l #financailadvisor needs to know the answers to the questions. Lyle Sussman and I are happy to share a…

David A. DubofskyOctober 28, 2022

Financial Planning

Understanding Our Regrets Today Can Improve Our Financial Tomorrow

Understanding Our Regrets Today Can Improve Our Financial Tomorrow Feelings of regret, especially about financial decisions or inaction, are universal, but it’s possible to turn them into life’s best positives. BY H. DENNIS BEAVER, ESQ. PUBLISHED 7 HOURS AGO “‘Jerry,’ my 65-year-old father, is beating himself up over failing to get out of the stock market months ago when it was so…

HSF PublishingOctober 12, 2022

Financial Literacy

Five Cs of Credit

Whether you agree or disagree with President Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan, it is useful to think of it in relation to the usual ways that credit is granted, and the expected payback of loans. That is why we posted the "5 Cs of Credit," one of the 74 essential concepts in Your Total Wealth. Because financial advisors and bankers…

HSF PublishingSeptember 14, 2022

Finances Financial Literacy

CONFIRMATION BIAS: FINANCIAL ADVISORS AND INVESTORS SHOULD REMOVE THEIR BLINDERS

Confirmation Bias is the third article in our trilogy of behavioral finance biases affecting financial advisors and their clients. Indeed… that is one of the reasons Smart People Do Stupid Things... Feel free to download copies for yourself, your colleagues and your clients. CONFIRMATION BIAS A BEHAVIORAL FINANCE BIAS AFFECTING ADVISORS AND THEIR CLIENTS David Dubofsky, PhD, CFA Lyle Sussman,…

HSF PublishingAugust 15, 2022

Financial Literacy Financial Planning

LOSS AVERSION: A BEHAVIORAL RISK FOR BOTH FINANCIAL ADVISORS AND THEIR CLIENTS

LOSS AVERSION: A BEHAVIORAL RISK FOR BOTH FINANCIAL ADVISORS AND THEIR CLIENTS David Dubofsky, PhD, CFA Lyle Sussman, PhD You win some and you lose some. For a moment think about how often you’ve heard or used that phrase. Maybe you said it to someone who was just denied a promotion. Or possibly someone said it to you after you lost…

HSF PublishingAugust 8, 2022

Financial Literacy

OVERCONFIDENCE: A Behavioral Risk For Both Financial Advisors And Their Clients

David Dubofsky, PhD, CFA and Lyle Sussman, PhD The increasing interest in decision making biases affecting the financial world can best be documented with this metric: A Google search of the phrase “Behavioral Finance” yields over 5 million hits. A cursory scan of a sample of those links highlights overconfidence as a significant bias affecting both investors and their advisors. Overconfidence…

David A. DubofskyAugust 1, 2022

Financial Literacy Understanding Debt

Federal Reserve

Clients of Financial Advisors and Wealth Managers hear a lot today about the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately many of those clients, and people in general, may not know what it does and how it affects their daily personal finances. Here’s a sample of "Central Bank," one of the key terms we explain in our book, "Your Total Wealth," to help you…

David A. DubofskyJuly 21, 2022