Pools and Tools

June 12, 2012 By 1 Comment
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For me, summertime brings thoughts of swimming pools and gardening tools. Yesterday I spent almost the entire day happily utilizing one or the other. In today’s post, I want to address other types of pools and tools that can be used as part of an overall financial strategy. While this may not sound as fun, having enough money to live a life you love certainly sounds appealing! One of the most practical and simplest tools for an investment plan is an index funds. A stock index is a pool, or basket of stocks that represents a market or a segment of that market. Common stock indexes that you … [Read more...]

Speaking of Global Investing

July 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In follow up to my blog last week about global investing, I ran across this article from Forbes on a the Tweety, Browne Global Value Fund that has beaten the MSCI index by 5% average over the past 17 years. They buy undervalued securities, and it looks like their strategy has paid off. The MSCI index is made up of a group of companies that represent a market, in this case, the developed markets of Europe, Australasia and the Far East. By comparing the fund performance against the MSCI index, you are able to have better insight into their performance. There are many other factors to look at … [Read more...]

Feel Secure Around Your Investments

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The stock market volatility has risen back to the level of May 6, 2010, which is the day that it had that crazy and sudden drop! I was traveling back from visiting a college for my son. My travel definitely has a high correlation with crazy things happening in the stock market! Someone could develop a market indicator called the Camille Gaines travel indicator and make a lot of money. Seriously, an indicator called the VIX measures how volatile the S & P stock market index (SPY) is. During especially volatile times, it makes sense to make sure your risk levels are appropriate for you to … [Read more...]

Indexing is Like your Wardrobe

March 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Recently I have been writing about an important term for financial women; stock market indexes. Before you convince yourself this is just another boring topic, let’s take a look at why indexes are important and how they are similar to wardrobes. Indexes measure the performance of almost every traditional investment, so they have to be important. An expansion of this statement is for another day, but for now, trust me, indexes help you evaluate the results you are getting form your investments. Measuring performance lets you know if you are accomplishing your financial goals. Having … [Read more...]

Indexing is a Forest Concept

March 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Do you ever miss the forest for the trees? I do this a lot. For example, I will plan on cleaning out my email in box in half an hour and I will end up focusing the entire time on one email response that is time intensive. Similarly, it is easy to get caught up in learning the smaller aspects of investing instead of first focusing on the forest. An index is one of the most important terms for a financial woman to understand. It is a “forest” concept. Once you understand the concept of an index, you have the ability to measure performance, and also to invest your own money if you choose. … [Read more...]

What is Security for You?

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Do you ever miss the forest for the trees? I do this a lot. For example, I will plan on cleaning out my email inbox in half an hour and I will end up focusing the entire time on one email response that is time intensive. Similarly, it is easy to get caught up in learning the smaller aspects of investing instead of first focusing on the forest. An index is one of the most important terms for a financial woman to understand. It is a “forest” concept. Once you understand the concept of an index, you have the ability to measure performance, and also to invest your own money if you choose. … [Read more...]