Market Commentary January 2016
Stock Markets In 2015, domestic large cap stocks (S&P 500) and REITs were up while other markets were down – emerging markets were off big! The positive results in the S&P 500 were driven by just two stocks – Amazon and Google. Otherwise it would have looked like other market indices. These results, I think, […]
The Problem With Diversification – Emerging Markets
One of the tenets of successful long-term investing is the practice of portfolio diversification. Through diversification, investors can increase their expected long-term return for a given level of risk (volatility). This is accomplished by investing in assets that are not perfectly correlated to one another, but each asset individually has a positive expected return. This […]
What’s Happening At Rockbridge
2015 was an exciting year of growth and change at Rockbridge. Market returns were less than ideal for the year, but we continue to see growth in our fee-only business model as prospective clients seek out unbiased advice and professional investment management. We are the leading fee-only investment management firm in Central New York, managing […]
Investing and Action Movies
When we go to a good action flick, we enjoy the suspense and surprises, but no one wants that experience when investing. James Bond and Mission Impossible would not be box office hits without some interesting plot twists, and an occasional victory by the villain, and yet the end result is usually something we expect […]
Road to Rockbridge
Our Rockbridge team is continuing to grow, and as a new member, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Lisa Cellucci. I was born, raised, and educated right here in Syracuse. Even as a little girl, I always loved math and numbers. But maybe even more than math and […]
The Devil’s Financial Dictionary
There is an endless amount of terminology that surrounds the finance and investment industries. It can certainly be confusing to the average investor, and may be responsible for some uncertainty when it comes to how to invest and which advisor to trust. The Devil’s Financial Dictionary is a book that has recently been released by […]
Surprising New Changes To Social Security
Recently, Congress included surprising Social Security rule changes in the 2016 budget legislation. The bill has now become law and the updated rules will become permanent over a phase-in time period. We wanted to reach out to all of our clients to help better explain what you may be hearing in the news and describe […]
Three Ways to Curb Holiday Spending
The holidays are right around the corner, and it’s time to start thinking about gift shopping, parties, and all the other spending that goes along with them. It’s nothing new that the holidays are expensive. However, it is important to set a budget and avoid overspending during this time of year. This Reuters article discusses […]
A Look Into The Recent Social Security Changes
Last week, Congress passed their “Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.” Among the typical budgetary items, there are a few alterations that will impact the Social Security benefit filing system. Anyone who turns 62 in 2016 or later will no longer be able to take advantage of the “file-and-suspend” strategy for the purpose of receiving spousal […]
Is Your Smartphone Making You a Not-So-Smart Investor?
In a recent WSJ article, they talk about the how smart phone “investment apps” are causing investors to react to short-term market swings and abandoning their long-term established financial plans. Behavioral economists call this tendency, “myopic loss aversion”- and it can be incredibly costly. Click on the link above to read the full article!