Daily Capital

10/07/2012

Personal Capital CEO Bill Harris explains how to turn the new 401(k) disclosure requirements to your advantage....

This summer, you have one of the best opportunities to fine-tune your portfolio. In fact, you could potentially add tens of thousands of dollars to your 401(k) and IRA balances come retirement time. The catch: You must be willing to step up and pay attention closer attention to the fine print. [......

28/04/2012

I love GigaOm as a publishing group. They publish some of the more thoughtful pieces on the use and impact of technology on business and on culture that is being written now. Especially now that Mashable has been brought down by AOL to AWOL status in terms of engaged writers.

It has been a crazy busy week for me and my reading list was much longer that normal. I have culled the seven best pieces for you to read and enjoy this weekend. Some of them might have lessons for all of us.

19/04/2012

New today: Making sure Apple's value doesn't throw off your portfolio's balance.

The foundation of prudent investing rests in diversification.

12/04/2012

Our wrap-up of the markets and economy for Q1 2012, and a look at what could be ahead.

Stocks recorded double digit percentage gains for a second consecutive quarter, climbing a wall of worry anchored by the European debt crisis.

10/04/2012

Sound advice if you have a new grad in the family.

Here’s how to help a new college graduate without totally messing up your own finances.

02/04/2012

Always make sure you pay attention to the details.

In hedge fund speak, a “carry trade” is when you borrow money at low rates and invest in something with higher rates. The most well-known example involved the Japanese Yen – borrowing at less than 1 percent and buying U.S. or European debt paying closer to 5 percent. Easy money. Yen appreciation was...

28/03/2012

Want to max out on your Social Security benefits when the time comes? Carla Fried explains how to ideally time your retirement for maximum income...

Chances are, if you were offered a deal that could pay you 30 to 80 percent more income, you’d be mighty interested. But when it comes to the decision about when to start taking Social Security benefits in retirement — which does in fact give you the ability to lock in much higher payments — it turn...

27/03/2012

Expecting a big tax refund? Don't waste the opportunity. Some smart strategies from Ruthie Ackerman and others....

According to the IRS, the average tax refund this year will come in around $3,000 per person. And going by a recent poll by TD Ameritrade, of those anticipating a refund, 63% plan to save or invest at least part of the money they receive, 51% are planning on paying down debt, 48% expect to pay for n...

21/03/2012

Smart tax ideas from our own Ruthie Ackerman -- how to stay ahead of likely tax hikes and other changes that will hit next year...

The big theme for tax planning in 2012? Simple – uncertainty. A lot of big changes are in the works that every investor ought to be thinking about now, not later.

15/03/2012

Do you think this rally is for real? We do.

There’s plenty of chatter surrounding the S&P 500’s +25% run since last October (through 3/9). A small group say the rally has only just begun, but for the vast majority there’s a growing fear of heights. Or maybe a sense of caution is a better description. Either way, equities have posted solid ret...

08/03/2012

Income investors: might be time to tilt your portfolio back towards blue-chip stocks. The latest from Carla Fried....

Let’s face it, income investing can be a challenge these days. With the Federal Reserve on record as saying it intends to keep the Federal Funds rate at zero for another 18 months or so, buying treasuries is a losing proposition. Even if you venture all the way out to a 10-year note, the 2 percent y...

07/03/2012

Buffet and Bill Gross have been butting head over the value of bonds lately. Our take: Buffett's right.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gross are two of the most prolific investors of our time. And it just so happens both made recent headlines. The Oracle of Omaha was first with his Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letter to Shareholders. Then PIMCO’s Bill Gross issued his monthly investment outlook titled Defense. ...

01/03/2012

Financial regrets? You’ve had a few, no doubt. And you’re not alone. According to a recent Merrill Edge survey, the top three regrets among “mass affluent” folks with a sizable chunk of change to invest – between $50,000 and $250,000 in investable assets outside of home equity — rank as follows:

29/02/2012

Got stock options? Here's how to decide what to do (and when), from the experts at Personal Capital

So, you ended up with a pile of valuable stock options. People keep telling you this is a good thing, and they’re right! But what those same people can easily overlook is the potential financial headache these same options can create. Taxes, diversification, timing, and most importantly long-term fi...

28/02/2012

Carla Fried shows how to (safely) ride out the bond bubble...and why it's time for bond addicts to rethink

We’re three years past the bear-market bottom and investors are showing no signs of warming up to stocks. From 2009 through 2011 a net $175 billion was yanked from stock mutual funds, while bond funds took in a net $742 billion. The bulk of the flight from stocks happened in the last half of 2011. I...

27/02/2012

Check out this cool infographic about the economy revolving around NBA superstar Jeremy Lin from our friends at Personal Capital.

23/02/2012

Why some Americans are willing to work well into their 80s to avoid lifestyle tradeoffs when they - finally - retire... Check out Ruthie Ackerman's take on the new Merryl survey....

A new survey by Merrill Lynch, which polled 1,000 adults with assets of $250,000 and above, reports how Americans are facing long-range retirement challenges.

22/02/2012

A new study shows that Gen X-ers – those infamous angst-ridden children of the 80s and 90s – are racking up debt much faster than their Baby Boomer parents.

A study of credit trends released this week by Experian revealed that Generation X has the highest amount of debt and the second to lowest credit scores (the lower the score the worse your credit). Baby boomers, ages 47 to 65, on the other hand, have high levels of debt as well, clocking in on avera...

16/02/2012

New piece by our new writer Ruthie Ackerman. We're more than happy to have her on board.

Want to add a portfolio investment that delivers solid returns and a social benefit? That’s the win-win promise behind impact investing, a nascent alternative-asset class that could grow into a $1 trillion market by 2020, according to projections by JPMorgan.

14/02/2012

Another good reason to keep your Social Security Number under lock and key.

Meeting the April 17 income tax deadline might be the least of your worries. In recent years, the IRS has seen a significant increase in the number of fraud cases involving identity theft, according to Steven Miller, IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement.

13/02/2012

Personal Capital CEO Bill Harris explains why Facebook's soon-to-be millionaires should focus on diversifying their portfolios.

Lately, we’ve been taking a look at what the soon-to-be newly rich employes of Facebook should do with their money after Facebook’s IPO. Our advice: Diversify:

10/02/2012

Diversify, diversify, diversify ...

With Facebook’s much anticipated IPO around the corner, it’s probably a good time to revisit everyone’s favorite topic. No, I am not talking about photo sharing, but rather concentration risk and diversification. In itself, it is not an exciting discussion, but tech IPOs always make it more interes...

09/02/2012

Our own Carla Fried in the Fiscal Times.

Proof that a college education is, indeed, of great value.

07/02/2012

Each time you grumble while cutting those monthly student loan checks, remember how much it would have cost had you not gone to college.

There’s plenty of chatter and hand-wringing these days about whether it really makes sense to get a college education. The fact that recent grads are having such a tough time landing career jobs in today’s abysmal job market, along with the Occupy movement’s focus on student loan debt, has helped fu...

07/02/2012

We're hearing more and more about economic recovery, but how's the housing market doing? We take a close look.

As the magical “r” word – recovery – has begun to escape the lips of economic experts and pundits, it’s worth taking a closer look at housing, an essential sector of the US economy that has been absolutely brutalized over the last five years. So, is the housing market beginning to turn around? Well,...

02/02/2012

From our newest contributor, nationally syndicated author Terry Savage.

Every single business in existence has made a mistake at one time or another – they’re unavoidable. But what separates good businesses from the bad is how they handle those bad choices. The same goes for investing. Nationally syndicated financial columnist Terry Savage explains how investors can dea...

30/01/2012

Stocks are very undervalued right now, meaning it's a great time to invest.

These are uncertain times. Nobody knows exactly how the situation in Europe will impact global stocks, but that doesn’t mean owning equities is a bad idea. US stocks are trading at extremely attractive levels relative to history, and markets like to climb a wall of worry. So if you’re sitting on the...

30/01/2012

Cautious investor? The Fed's low interest rates got you down? We have five ways to "Fed-proof" your investments.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke continues to make life very hard for risk-averse savers and investors. Last week the Fed announced it intends to keep its target Federal Funds rate hovering near zero “at least through late 2014” given the fragile and slow pace of economic growth. That’s about 1...

28/01/2012

Our own Carla Fried in the Fiscal Times on fixing your under-performing 401(k).

25/01/2012

Japan has long had an export economy, but that's shifting a bit as the country ran a rare trade deficit last year. Here's why.

A trade deficit in Japan is truly a rare event. But the strengthening yen and need for higher oil imports (due to the nuclear accident) have resulted in the first deficit since 1980. While most of this appears short-term in nature, Japan’s export driven economy could face increased pressure in 2012 ...

25/01/2012

Four steps to help turn around your 401(k) performance.

There’s no question – a 401(k) is still one of the best ways to save for retirement. They give investors valuable tax breaks and the ability to contribute a hefty $17,000 this year, or $22,500 if you’re 50 years or older. But let’s face it, plenty of 401(k)s offer a lineup of underperformers, and ca...

25/01/2012

Personal Capital is here to shake things up.

24/01/2012

Our collection of the best financial writing of the day.

The Financial Index is Daily Capital’s roundup of our Editor’s Picks for the day – featured trends and market analysis from around the Web.

23/01/2012

We may not have flying cars yet, but at least you can have a modern investment strategy.

It’s 2012 – only seven years away from when Ridley Scott’s futuristic cult classic “Blade Runner” takes place. The movie is set in Los Angeles in 2019, and Scott’s vision of the future is surreal, encompassing everything from flying cars to outer space colonies. We now know this is a far cry from wh...

19/01/2012

An alternative to a traditional inheritance.

With the housing market beginning to stabilize in many areas, now is a tantalizing time for many first-time homebuyers to act. That a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage can be had for 4 percent is incredibly good. But there’s a catch. Most lenders are looking for down payments of 10 or 20 percent to make ...