4 Minute Money

How to Keep Financial Harmony in Your Marriage By Douglas Goldstein CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel What's the best way to achieve financial harmony in a marriage? When two people get married, they don't only join their lives together, but also their money. If differences in money attitudes and practices are not addressed early on, people can become set in their ways,...

What You Should Know About Low-Risk Investments By Douglas Goldstein CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel Recently, a new client told me that his portfolio mostly contained low-risk investments. When I saw that the majority of his investments were mutual funds, I asked him why he believed mutual funds were "low-risk," as his funds contained stocks. What he was missing was...

Can I Safely Withdraw My Principal in Retirement? By Douglas Goldstein CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel As a cross-border financial advisor, one question I hear nearly every day is, "Can I afford to withdraw my principal in retirement?" For most of my clients, the short answer is, yes, but it is important to know how much and from which accounts you can dip into your p...

How to Invest When You Can't Predict Market Direction By Douglas Goldstein CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel If you're thinking of investing in stocks but you're concerned about which direction the stock market will move, here's what you need to know: If you are a new investor with a long-term perspective, it shouldn't matter which direction the stock market moves in th...

Why You Need to Talk to Your Adult Children about Your Finances By Douglas Goldstein CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel Do you find it difficult to discuss with your adult children what should happen with your finances towards the end of your life? If so, you're not alone. People don't like thinking about their own mortality or losing control. Moreover, as family relatio...

Steps You Need to Take 5 Years before Retirement By Douglas Goldstein CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel Will you have "enough" money to live comfortably? The months and years before retirement may be filled with trepidation and financial worries. In order to minimize financial concerns before retirement, here are some steps you should take in the five years leading up t...

How to Choose the Right Financial Advisor for You By Douglas Goldstein CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel Choosing the right financial advisor can be like seeking the right life partner. Your financial advisor needs to be the perfect match for you and your situation. Your advisor must be knowledgeable, honest, reliable, and, most importantly, have your best interests in...

What You Need to Know About Rolling Your 401(k) to an IRA By Douglas Goldstein CFP®- helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel When you change jobs, everything you need to take with you can be neatly packed into a box – except your retirement plan. When you leave your job, you need to think about rolling your 401(k) into an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). If you left your job to...

How to Make a Good Investment Decision By Douglas Goldstein CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel Since one person's good investment choice may be a huge mistake for someone else, what factors should you consider when deciding upon a potential investment? In investing, the only hard and fast rule is that past performance never guarantees future returns. Though you should tr...

Was Miguel Cervantes' Don Quixote fighting imaginary windmills or market volatility when he said, "Don't put all of your eggs in one basket?" Putting all of your assets in one basket doesn't keep them as safe as you might think because there is always a risk that you might lose them all at once. The way to counter this is the investment strategy of asset allocation. Asset allocation, or diversific...

Why You Need to Build an Emergency Fund By Douglas Goldstein CFP®- helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel What would happen if you had an emergency – like a huge dental bill or unexpected car repair? And even worse, what if you had lost your job a month before and couldn't even get an interview for a new one? To top it off, you get a call that a close relative in the States is sick...

The Things Not to Do With an Inheritance By Douglas Goldstein, CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel When you get an inheritance, your first question may be, "What should I do now?" But perhaps a better question is "What shouldn't I do now?" An emotional rollercoaster Getting an inheritance arouses many emotions. Sometimes, people get too excited and they spend all the mone...

How Can You Increase Your Retirement Income? By Douglas Goldstein, CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel How can you increase your retirement income and avoid risk? That's tricky, and a lot of folks simply opt to put their money in the bank. But the good news is that there are other options, aside from the bank, for reducing risk and generating more retirement income. While...

What Happens to Your U.S. Brokerage Account When You Leave America? By Douglas Goldstein, CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel The good news is that if you are an American expat, or you are not a U.S. citizen at all, you can still benefit from having a U.S. brokerage account. (For more information about managing your American brokerage account from abroad, download the Pro...

Are Foreign Investments Good for Your Retirement Plan? By Douglas Goldstein, CFP® - helping olim handle their U.S. investments from Israel Do you want to minimize risk in your retirement accounts? If so, consider diversifying your holdings to include foreign investments. Investing internationally may boost your returns and minimize risk, as you're "geographically diversified" and not relying on an...

Is there a safe investment that carries little risk? Bonds are often described as a "safe investment" since, compared with other investments, they have a smaller risk of losing principal. However, just because some people call them "safe," that does not mean they cannot lose money. Bonds are popular because they distribute interest payments on a set schedule, providing a reliable source of predict...

When you plan for retirement, you must have the right tools. What are the most important things that you need? An emergency fund Before you begin saving for retirement, create an emergency fund for unexpected expenses. This way, you will always have money available in a crisis and you won't need to withdraw from savings or take a loan. Ideally, your emergency fund should cover at least 3-6 months'...

Is your investment account in jeopardy because of your address? If your American brokerage firm no longer wants to hold your account because your legal address is not in the United States, you may find the information contained in the Profile Toolkit useful. (Free download at Profile-Financial.com/toolkit) Financial companies follow strict regulations for all their clients. However, some companies...

An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is a security that owns a basket of assets (like stocks or bonds), the ownership of which is divided into shares. It is often compared with a "mutual fund," as a mutual fund is also a basket of assets. One of the main differences between the two, however, is that an ETF trades on an exchange (like the New York Stock Exchange) throughout the trading day. A regular (or...

Why Money Transfers Aren't as Easy as They Used to Be By Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, - helping olim handle U.S. brokerage accounts, including IRS, from Israel If you attempted a money transfer recently, you may have been surprised at the amount of documentation you were asked to provide. Any financial institution can ask for proof as to why you're moving money. They do this to make sure that they are...

Can Bonds Increase Income from Your Investment Portfolio? By Douglas Goldstein, CFP® - helping olim handle U.S., IRA, investment, and brokerage accounts from Israel A retired widow met with me last week to discuss how to increase income from her investment portfolio. I reviewed her account and made some suggestions for restructuring her investments to get predictable income. We spoke a lot about b...

What should you do if you receive a lump sum, such as an inheritance, legal settlement, or pension payment? Should it be invested for growth or for income ? Invest for growth A "growth investment" tries to increase the amount of money you have. Growth investments often entail some level of risk, so if you plan on using the money in the short term, you should consider a more conservative investment...

The Best Way to Update Investments in an Inherited IRA By Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, - helping olim handle U.S., IRA, investment, and brokerage accounts from Israel If you inherit an IRA (Individual Retirement Account), you must be aware of the regulations concerning transferring the account to you, the "beneficiary." Apart from the technical requirements for processing the account, which a financia...

What Should You Do With Money in the Bank? By Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, - helping olim handle U.S., IRA, investment, and brokerage accounts from Israel   Recently, a couple asked me what they should do with their money in the bank. I hear this question quite often. However, as every individual investor's situation and circumstances are different, there is no standard response that fits everyone. To...

How to Overcome the Challenges of Receiving an Inheritance By Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, - helping olim handle U.S., IRA, investment, and brokerage accounts from Israel What would be your first reaction if you received an inheritance? When a client received an inheritance from her elderly aunt, she told me: "I thought she was going to leave everything to my cousin. I never imagined in my wildest dre...