One of the things I am constantly asked is whether it is time to get out of the stock market. Since, over the long haul, the stock market usually manages to come out ahead, I say. “No.”
But there is a qualification. Look at your investment portfolio and make sure that you are investing in companies with strong fundamentals. You can get some good deals right now while there is some turmoil in the market. Buy more stock when the prices are low (but choose your stocks wisely), so that when the market recovers you will be in better shape.
Here is …read more

Happily, my husband’s beloved Giants won the Super Bowl yesterday. Yay! But I also something else that made me smile. While most of the Super Bowl commercials were lame-ish, I did enjoy these E-Trade baby stock investing commercials. I do like online discount brokers. And these commercials made me like them even more…

Today’s words of wisdom from Paul Farrell’s MarketWatch article on ten things that can help you beat the bear market are rather simple: save. Farrell recommends that you set aside 15% of your income in some sort of savings, whether it’s retirement accounts, stock investing or some other vehicle. But he also says that 10% should be the minimum:
Here are two key formulas to remember: One, if you’re not saving at least 10% then you are spending too much. Two: Nothing saved equals nothing invested equals nothing compounding equals nothing in your retirement nest egg.
You can’t beat the bear market, …read more