3 reasons why you never want to borrow from your 401(k)
Why borrowing from your 401(k) is a bad idea (Forbes)
Borrowing from your 401(k) is never ideal, but sometimes people find themselves down to their last dollars and have no other choice. For those not faced with that dilema, Forbes gives three reasons why you want to avoid borrowing from your retirement at all costs. First, the money you use to repay the loan is taxed, meaning you are paying taxes twice. Next, some employers don'y allow you to contribute to your plan if you have an outstanding loan. Finally, if you fail to repay your loan within 60 days of leaving the company, it will be taxed as income.
An alternative form of investing (Bloomberg)
Collecting old movie posters and other rare collectibles is a form of alternative investing. Increased investor interest has caused prices to skyrocket recently. Bloomberg says, "In 1994 Bill Gates paid a record $30.8 million for Leonardo da Vinci's Codex. The 72-page, handwritten notebook could be worth as much much as $60 million today." You don't have to be a millionaire to get involved. A poster from the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice," starring Sean Connery, goes for about $1500.
Improving your online presence (Financial Advisor)
Fidelity is teaming up with GuideVine to help advisors improve their social media presence. The new platform will let perspective clients view videos of advisors and digitally interact with them before making a decision on who to use. According to Financial Advisor, "Fidelity research shows that emerging affluent investors are nearly twice as likely as millionaires to find a new financial advisor through Internet research and more likely than millionaires to find a new advisor through social media." The research also found 58% of emerging affluent investors say a good website gives a more positive impression.
4 bond myths (Financial Planning)
Allan Roth, the founder of planning firm Wealth Logic, shared some common myths about bonds with Financial Planning. Roth says people believe the purpose of fixed income is to produce income, but really fixed income investors should view the product as one designed to keep up with inflation and taxes. Next, investors believe fixed income requires active management, but constantly trading into and out of bonds costs investors money. Many investors think higher rates are bad for bonds. While the might be the case in the short-run, that's not necessarily true over the long run. Finally, holding individual bonds does not eliminate interest-rate risk.
More advisors are saying no to Stifel (Think Advisor)
Two months ago, Stifel announced it was acquiring 180 advisors from Barclays, but things haven't gone according to plan. A $3 billion group of five advisors, and staff, announced they will be forming their own RIA through a partnership with Dynasty Financial. This means at least 12% of the advisors who were supposed to be joining Stifel will be taking their business elsewhere.