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Did you know there is a vast discrepancy between how individuals and institutions allocate their investment capital?

According to the 2017 American Association of Individual Investors Asset Allocation Survey, the average individual investment portfolio consisted of about 66% equity, 16% fixed income, and 18% cash. While individual portfolios are highly skewed in the direction of equities, the same does not hold true for large institutional investors such as college endowments or pension plans whose asset allocation models look quite different.

Some Americans are getting seasick from Wall Street volatility and are looking for alternative investment options. You may be considering alternative investments as well for placing and growing your money.

But, where to start?

Start where the wealthy put their money. Institutions, such as hedge funds and university endowments, as well as ultra-wealthy investors have long invested in private markets as an alternative to the stock market since growth and returns in the private markets have outpaced those in the public market.

Just as in sports, the wealthy know that for growing or maintaining wealth a good defense is just as important as a good offense.

In financial terms, for growing wealth, not only is it important to increase income but it’s equally important to protect that income from the IRS.

Just as zealous as the wealthy are about growing their proverbial “pot,” they are equally fervent about defending that pot from being chipped away by taxes.

2019 is here and let’s go counter-intuitive.

Don’t plan for retirement.
In the world of finance, there are two types of financial advisors, financial planners whose goal is to help customers get ahead and wealth managers who assist those who have already made it.
Financial planners primarily assist with lifestyle planning, including budgeting, college, and retirement. Most of their clients are middle class.

Have you ever gone shopping for a cell phone and get the sense the salesperson you were dealing with was overzealous about a particular brand?

Ever felt pushed hard toward a certain brand even though you perceived it as being inferior to other available options?

The salesperson shouted from the rooftops about all the benefits of such and such phone while tearing down a competitor’s phone. Meanwhile, drawbacks of the featured phone were completely ignored.

Which investment does 145 years of data prove to be better?

Every asset class and company has their reasons for why they are unequivocally the correct choice for investors. In an environment like this, it is natural to become distrustful and overwhelmed.

Many fall prey to the common misconception that setting up an IRA and investing money in it will ensure you will be taken care of when retirement rolls around.

The sad truth is, just because you fund an IRA doesn’t mean you’ll have enough to retire with when the time arrives. The fact is, many households (35%) do not even have a retirement savings plan such as an IRA. The ones that do have retirement plans underutilize them.

Aging is inevitable, and part of the American Dream is to be able to retire when we reach our golden years, or earlier, with financial security.

One of the hottest topics in the financial world is passive income. It seems like almost everyone in this space is reading, writing, and working towards it. So what exactly is passive income? In short, passive income is cash flow generated from investments without you actively working for it. It is essential for generating wealth and financial security.

Real estate pundits love to talk about millennial population trends and how to tailor your investments to profit from them.

One of the most common examples is younger people plan to rent rather than buy, at least in the near future. What almost nobody is talking about, yet, is the fact that many Baby Boomers are set to follow this same trend and here’s why…

Historically, interest rate uncertainty and stock market volatility have gone hand in hand.
This has proven true in 2018 where the Fed has raised rates three times, in March, June, and September by a quarter of a point each time.
The surprise of the three increases along with the uncertainty of future rates has contributed to significant stock market volatility, with October of 2018 being the most volatile October in over a decade.