Skarbeck: Controversy dogs some public-pension programs
Heated talks are taking place in public-pension boardrooms across the country over issues like risk levels of investments and fees paid to fund managers.
Heated talks are taking place in public-pension boardrooms across the country over issues like risk levels of investments and fees paid to fund managers.
An Indiana CollegeChoice 529 plan account is a gift that will last a lifetime, and, if you’re an Indiana resident, the state will pick up 20 percent of the cost.
There are two key financial tables that can help you plan for retirement. They can be found on the Internet. With them you can input two simple factors—period invested and interest rate earned—and quickly see how your net worth is affected.
Successful people’s paths are often littered with failures. It isn’t that they are immune to failure; it is how they react to and apply the lessons learned from their failures that ultimately leads to their success.
On occasion, it is interesting to study the stocks of businesses that are outliers on the bell curve of business valuation. For a value investor, that means looking at stocks selling at huge multiples above traditional valuation yardsticks.
The primary impact of confidence on the economy is simple. If people think the economic future will be good, they’ll spend and invest. Thus, things will be good.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a rule that would require large public companies to disclose the total annual compensation of their CEO, the median annual compensation of all their employees (excluding the CEO), and the ratio between these two figures.
The Sept. 12 tweet read, “We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.” Twitter thus made a very public announcement that it had made a private filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 140 characters or fewer, Twitter instantly […]
Some market constituents benefit from higher rates. For example, payers of fixed cash flows—the consumer who locked in a loan at a lower fixed-rate, companies that issued bonds at lower rates and insurers that pay annuitants fixed rates.
Custodians of self-directed IRAs will permit a broader universe of investments, such as real estate and unregistered securities. Because it is unlikely the custodian will investigate whether the unregistered security or promoter are legitimate, you can see why fraud promoters love self-directed IRAs.
There are many approaches and differing opinions on the best way to manage your portfolio. The conclusion comes down to which style or philosophy leaves you feeling the most comfortable while you fully understand the cost, risks and potential performance of that strategy.
If you are confident the S&P 500 will be 20 percent higher a year from now, you might think an exchange-traded fund (ETF) whose objective is to provide two times or even three times the return of the S&P 500 would be just the ticket to earn 40 percent (two times) or 60 percent (three times). You couldn’t be more wrong.
The masterful allocation of a company’s cash flow, over long periods, is the single greatest determinant of shareholder value for an investor. This is the conclusion in the 2012 book “The Outsiders” by William Thorndike.
As summer and the golf season fade, this is a good opportunity to reflect and see if there are lessons from the game applicable to other areas of life, like investing.
The sale price of The Washington Post Co. exposes just how far the industry has sunk. In the first half of this year, the iconic newspaper’s operations generated $138.4 million in revenue and lost nearly $50 million ($40 million of which was a non-cash pension expense).
A college education is one of life’s most important and costly investments. But what should college graduates do after they’ve earned their diploma to protect and enhance their return on this monumental investment?
The legal playbook for a large municipal Chapter 9 bankruptcy is largely undeveloped. Thus, the Detroit saga will establish new ground in the field of municipal bankruptcy.
If you were a Martian who just landed on Earth, you would be hard-pressed to tell from recent alarmist headlines that U.S. stocks had posted their best first half since 1999 and that most economic indicators were also improving.
The popular institutional investment strategy called “risk parity” has produced dreadful investment results this year.
Wouldn’t it be great if there were an online platform offering an easy and engaging way to sharpen skills and improve knowledge so your student can hit the ground running when school starts? Khan Academy fits the bill.