Are you getting your fair share?

The first quarter of 2013 was the best Q1 in 15 years!

• Small Cap up over 12%,
• Large Cap Value up over 12%
• S&P 500 up over 10%
• What great numbers even after a very solid 2012.

It is amazing how time tends to smooth out the returns of a portfolio.  The financial collapse of 2008 was a painful recession;  At the low point, the S&P 500 was down -47%.   Although both the economy and employment are not back to 2007 levels, some people weathered the storm anyway.    If you had a plan for your portfolio, stayed invested, and continued to dollar cost average, your portfolio is looking sound and strong today.   Depending on your portfolio expenses, you may have gotten your “fair share” of market returns.

The difficult truth of financial cycles and investing is that many people do not stay the course with their investing plan.  Most are not getting their “fair share” of the financial market returns due to high investing expenses.  Wall Street is a money machine;  they have created a costly food chain at your expense.  You are paying for commissions, operating expenses, trading costs, advisor fees, big fancy offices, taxes and more.   If you are not paying attention, Wall Street will leave you with less than your “fair share”.

A solid retirement will not happen by accident; a solid retirement is a matter of conscious choice, strategy, coaching and discipline.  Simple, but not easy.

Here are 7 key items to help you get your “fair share” of market returns:

1. Focus on asset class investing.  Many investors are missing key asset classes that help bolster returns and add diversification.  Download our Q1 2013 market review to see the asset classes you are missing.
2. Compare your returns to the above asset class returns.  We publish asset class returns so you can compare to your portfolio.  Many brokers and advisors do not give you comparison data because they don’t want you to see that you are not getting your “fair share”.
3. Focus on passive investing for your portfolio not active management.  Look at page 15 of the Q1 market review.  The S&P 500 is up 153% from the lows in 3/09 but small and mid-cap companies are up 193% to 203%!  If you use active management like American Funds and others, check your performance against the proper benchmark.  As mentioned in a previous blog, most active managers do not beat their benchmark after expenses.
4. Have a solid strategy for investing.  Invest on a regular basis and let compounding work for you.  Most people need a coach to keep them on track and help build an optimal portfolio for their risk tolerance.Watch out for expenses.  I have recently seen investor portfolios with front end sales commissions of 2.5% to 5.75% and yearly operating expenses of .75% to 1.3% per mutual fund.  If you have A, B or C shares of mutual funds, this is a very expensive investing model.
   • If you are a dividend investor, read this blog by Larry Swedroe from CBS MoneyWatch – Why a high dividend strategy is dangerous!
   • If you are a growth investor, read this blog by Larry Swedroe from CBS MoneyWatch – We must curb our obsession with growth investing!
5. A 1% to 2% difference can determine if you retire at 55, 65 or 75 years old.  See this blog.
6. Take action!  Get a free 2nd opinion about your strategy.  Get this advice from a FEE-ONLY Fiduciary Advisor.  Someone who with legal loyalty to YOU!

As I said before, a solid retirement will not happen by accident, it is a matter of conscious choice, strategy, coaching and discipline.  If you do nothing with this blog, chances are that you may not get your “fair share” and you will have to work longer to hit your retirement goals.

Who we are: Integrity Investment Advisors, LLC is a fee-only Registered Investment Advisory Firm.  We are headquartered in Colorado and serve clients on a national basis.  If you know anyone who may benefit from our services, please contact us.  2013 Press Release: Integrity Investment Advisors, LLC and Managing Partner Todd Moerman are pleased to have recently joined an exclusive group of wealth managers offering the low cost mutual funds of Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) to its clients.

Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results.  Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product will be profitable.