Investments

  • Families Are Paying Nearly Half of College Costs out of Pocket
    Families Are Paying Nearly Half of College Costs out of Pocket

    On Average, Families Spent Roughly $26,500 on College in 2017-18; Three-Quarters of College Funds Come from Sources Other Than Student Loans

    Family income and savings covered nearly half (47 percent) of all college expenses last year, according to “How America Pays for College 2018,” the national study from Sallie Mae — the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company — and Ipsos, an independent global market research company.
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  • New Study: Positive Investor Sentiment Entering Midterm Elections
    New Study: Positive Investor Sentiment Entering Midterm Elections

    Young investors are most likely to believe the midterm elections will positively affect their portfolios

    E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) today announced results from the most recent wave of StreetWise, the E*TRADE quarterly tracking study of experienced investors. Amid increasing trade barbs, geopolitical unrest, and a late-stage economy, results show investors are hopeful that the midterm elections will have a positive impact on their investments
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  • Invesco and MassMutual Announce Strategic Combination of Invesco and OppenheimerFunds
    Invesco and MassMutual Announce Strategic Combination of Invesco and OppenheimerFunds

    Combined firm to be among the largest asset managers globally and in the US with $1.2 trillion AUM

    Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement, whereby Invesco will acquire MassMutual asset management affiliate OppenheimerFunds, Inc.
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  • How Digital Habits Are Driving Shifts In Financial Attitudes
    How Digital Habits Are Driving Shifts In Financial Attitudes

    Consumers are growing more comfortable conducting financial activities with non-traditional technology providers

    The latest quarterly consumer trends research from Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, shows that as the importance of digital engagement has grown, so has consumer comfort using non-financial companies to conduct financial activities.
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  • Bridging The Big Advice Gaps
    Bridging The Big Advice Gaps

    When Financial Tasks Are Difficult, Consumers Don’t Seek Help

    The vast majority of consumers who find a financial task difficult don’t seek help, creating large advice gaps, as seen in a new report from Hearts & Wallets, the source for retail investor data and insights. 
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  • Stocks Take a Ride
    Stocks Take a Ride

    Volatility comes back in full force

    Volatility was back in full force last week. The three major domestic indexes posted several days of losses before experiencing wide swings on Friday.
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  • Most Institutional Investors Are Optimistic about the Benefits of Emerging Technologies…
    Most Institutional Investors Are Optimistic about the Benefits of Emerging Technologies…

    But 3 out of 4 U.S. Firms Have Not Yet Considered How to Apply Them

    -Institutional investors worldwide expect that the influences of technology, new entrants to the market and consolidation will significantly reshape the investment industry landscape by 2025, according to the most recent edition of the Fidelity® Global Institutional Investor Survey.
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  • Charitable Donors Intend to Maintain Giving Levels, But May Not Understand Tax Reform’s Impact on Donations
    Charitable Donors Intend to Maintain Giving Levels, But May Not Understand Tax Reform’s Impact on Donations

    Four questions donors should ask about tax reform

    Fidelity Charitable’s new research indicates that donors’ commitment to giving remains strong in the wake of tax reform—82% of donors who itemized deductions on their 2017 taxes plan to maintain or increase their giving in 2018.
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  • For Investors: Confidence Rising
    For Investors: Confidence Rising

    One Month After Slide Across All Categories, October IBD/TIPP Poll Rises Again

    The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, a leading national poll on consumer confidence, rose 3.8 percent in October with an overall reading of 57.8. The positive uptick is notable as it comes after last month’s index dropped across every component.
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  • Millennial Self-Directed 401(k) Investors Allocate To EFTs Than Do Other Generations
    Millennial Self-Directed 401(k) Investors Allocate To EFTs Than Do Other Generations

    Mutual Funds remain top holding for all

    According to Charles Schwab’s SDBA Indicators Report (TM), an industry-leading benchmark on retirement plan participant investment activity within self-directed brokerage accounts (SDBAs), Millennials allocated a larger percentage of their portfolios to ETFs and cash than did other generations during the second quarter of 2018, while mutual funds remained the largest holding in the accounts of…
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  • Examining Economies
    Examining Economies

    Strength... while stumbling

    Although new data continued to show strength in the U.S. economy, markets stumbled across the globe last week. The S&P 500 lost 0.98%, the Dow dropped 0.04%, and the NASDAQ declined 3.21%. International stocks in the MSCI EAFE struggled, posting a 2.35% loss.
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  • One Man’s Bond Crisis is Another Man’s Income Opportunity
    One Man’s Bond Crisis is Another Man’s Income Opportunity

    Crisis... what crisis?

    by Steve Selengut

    The specter of higher interest rates (in a booming economy and tight job market) has finally produced what Wall Street loves to refer to as a crisis in the Bond Market. In my article "One Man's Bond Crisis is Another's Income Investment Opportunity", I was trying to make it clear to income purpose investors that a…
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  • Momentum Continues in Advisors Moving to Independence
    Momentum Continues in Advisors Moving to Independence

    Twenty percent year-over-year increase in new independent advisor firms

    Schwab Advisor Services today released its analysis of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) advisor registrations for 2017, which shows that the number of new advisors filing with the Commission as registered investment advisors (RIAs) continued the strong growth trajectory seen in the previous year.
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