ScottMcclatchey, CFP

05/03/2024

The biggest investors on the planet make extensive use of Alternatives, maybe you should/could also. Here's a primer.

It's possible to ride along with top-quartile funds found in multibillion-dollar institutional portfolios.

10/11/2023

Have you heard people mention alternative investments? They're not for everyone and contain risks along with potential rewards, but for some, it may be a category worth exploring. But do your homework before investing!

An alternative investment is a financial asset that does not fall into one of the conventional investment categories.

09/20/2023

In investing and retirement planning, there are many risks to consider. Here's one many have never heard of => "sequence of returns risk".

You face plenty of risks when investing for retirement. Markets crash, inflation can eat into your returns, you might even worry about outliving your savings. But there’s one big retirement risk that gets very little attention: Sequence of returns risk. What is sequence of returns risk? Also call

09/06/2023

Ever wonder what the most common question I get asked might be? A: Can I afford to retire?

12/14/2022

Theme-oriented investing skews portfolios toward specific themes an investor feels might outperform stocks overall -- e.g., cloud software, renewable energy, big data, agriculture, infrastructure, Internet of Things, environmental services, Metaverse, AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, sustainability, globalization. Does it work? Sometimes, but it's challenging to pick the right themes at the right times and avoid the wrong themes at the wrong times....

11/16/2022

I'm a lifelong learner, having always enjoyed "expanding my horizons" when time permits. If you're like me, having access to MOOC's is an amazing thing, almost as good as mixing peanut butter & chocolate. And most of them are free! (MOOC = Massive Open Online Courses)

Find MOOCs from Harvard, MIT, Microsoft and other top universities and institutions in subjects like computer science, data science, business and more.

11/09/2022

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/what-is-how-avoid-probate

Probate is the legal process for distributing your property after you die.

09/28/2022

The 4% Rule is the typical advice about how much a retiree should withdraw from their savings to live on each year. The idea is that you can safely plan to withdraw and live off of 4% of your savings each year during retirement without risking running out of money before you pass away.

09/28/2022

Heard of the 4% rule? It's really not a hard & fast rule, but rather a rule of thumb, or very rough estimate of how much a retiree can withdraw annually during retirement. To get a "better" estimate, have a CFP run a financial plan for you along with spending "stress tests" to show you how various scenarios might play out and whether you have enough margin-of-safety in your retirement plan.

The 4% Rule is the typical advice about how much a retiree should withdraw from their savings to live on each year. The idea is that you can safely plan to withdraw and live off of 4% of your savings each year during retirement without risking running out of money before you pass away.

07/05/2022

Latest Social Security update. Summary - it's not bankrupt, but does need Congress to make a few changes so you get what you were promised.

With approximately 94% of American workers covered by Social Security and 65 million people currently receiving benefits, keeping Social Security healthy is a major concern.1 Social Security isn't in danger of going broke — it's financed primarily through payroll taxes — but its financial health...

03/03/2022

Watching this unfolding crisis in Ukraine and wondering what SWIFT is? You're not alone, but here's the answer....

What is the SWIFT financial system and what's the connection to Russia?

02/08/2022

Nice summary laying out why labor shortages continue even after unemployment rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

COVID-19 and longer-term demographic trends are behind this highly unusual job market.