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The past year reminded investors that they should hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and be thankful when reality does not match their fears. Investors entered 2011 with hopes that the world economy would continue recovering from a long and painful deleveraging process. Equity markets had posted two straight years of positive performance, [...]
Continue Reading →By James T. Barker, ChFC, CLU
In today’s low-interest rate environment, investors relying on bond yields for steady cash flow may be tempted to look for alternatives to boost income. One direction many investors are heading is toward dividend stocks.
As of this writing, the dividend yield on the S&P [...]
Continue Reading →by James T. Barker, ChFC, CLU
Since 2008, economic uncertainty and market volatility have tested the staying power of investors around the world. Many people fled equities during the worst months of the global financial crisis, while others waited for signs of a turnaround before investing more. Their emotional reactions may have exacted [...]
Continue Reading →By James T. Barker, ChFC, CLU _________________________________________________________
Real estate as a wealth generator is hardly a new idea. People owned property long before the advent of stock exchanges and other capital markets. In more recent times, large corporations and institutions have held commercial real estate in their portfolios.
But individual investors have [...]
Continue Reading →by James T. Barker, ChFC, CLU ________________________________________________________
As we enter the final quarter of the fiscal year, it’s time to start thinking about strategies for reducing your income taxes. Capital loss or tax-loss harvesting can be an effective way to help.
Tax-loss harvesting is the selling of securities to realize portfolio losses [...]
Continue Reading →By James T. Barker, ChFC, CLU ________________________________________________________
Research shows that two risk factors—maturity and credit quality—account for most of the average return differences in diversified bond portfolios. Long-term bonds and lower-quality corporate bonds typically offer higher average yields to compensate investors for taking more risk. But keep in mind that these [...]
Continue Reading →By James T. Barker, ChFC, CLU ___________________________________________________________
Retirement savers who sought investing advice enjoyed a median annual return almost 3% higher than those who didn’t — even after the fees they paid for that advice, according to the study of eight large 401(k) plans with more than 425,000 participants and $25 billion in assets. The [...]
Continue Reading →By James T. Barker, ChFC, CLU _______________________________________________________
Choosing a basic stock-bond mix is an important first step in portfolio design. Although the decision may appear simple, it can have a profound impact on your wealth.
All investors face two important decisions; deciding how much risk to take and then building a portfolio with [...]
Continue Reading →Wealth Insights: BFG BLOG
By James T Barker, ChFC, CLU
President
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In early August, Standard & Poor’s downgraded US Government debt from a top-rated AAA to AA+. In the weeks preceding
the event, some market observers expected a downgrade to result in higher interest rates and [...]
Wealth Insights: BFG Blog
By James T Barker, ChFC, CLU
Observations of investor actions in a non-performing market.
We have observed that many people tend to invest in ways that suggest that they are somehow immune from the market conditions we observe daily. We have all experienced difficult [...]
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