Sometimes a picture really can make things easier to understand. Many of the important ideas and concepts you need to know as a long-term investor don’t require lengthy explanations. They can be as simple as the four charts we’ll share in our upcoming Insights. Together, these charts illustrate foundational principles of investing such as focusing on the long term, diversification, and not letting emotions compromise your portfolio. Hypothetical value of $100 invested at the beginning of 1972 and kept invested
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Insights
4 Charts Every Investor Should Know. #1: Let Markets Work For You

What You Pay, What You Get: Connecting Price and Expected Returns

It has been more than 50 years since the idea of stock prices containing all relevant information was put forth. Information might come in the form of data from a company’s financial statements, news about a new product, a change in the regulatory environment, or simply a shift of investors’ tastes and preferences toward owning different investments. Information is incorporated into security prices through the buying and selling process. While fair prices may not depend on a certain level of
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Why Did the Fed Raise Rates, and Should I Be Worried?

The Federal Reserve increased their key interest rate when they met in June. Let’s review why they made the change and how this rate increase affects our fixed income strategies. What is the Federal Funds Rate? The Federal Funds Rate is the interest rate at which banks and credit unions lend reserve balances to each other on an overnight basis. This rate is one tool by which the Federal Reserve (the Fed) implements monetary policy by setting a target or
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Why Rebalancing Your Portfolio Matters

Rebalancing your portfolio is an important step that many people neglect when they try to manage their own investments. Rebalancing helps keep your portfolio allocated in line with your desired mix of stocks and bonds (and the other factors of return, such as small and value), by taking money from assets that have performed well and reinvesting in assets that haven’t. Without rebalancing, your portfolio can drift from one level of risk to another as markets change. This drift can add extra
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The Impact of Inflation

In many cases, the reason for saving today is to support future spending. Therefore, keeping pace with inflation is a crucial goal for many investors. When the prices of goods and services increase over time, consumers can buy fewer of them with every dollar they have saved. This erosion of the real purchasing power of wealth is called inflation. Inflation is an important element of investing. In many cases, the reason for saving today is to support future spending. Therefore,
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