BRIC Countries: China (2008-09-15)

by David John Marotta

In recent years the Chinese economy has been waxing toward ascendance. It passed Japan in November 2007 and began to rival the brightness of America.

Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=301

BRIC Countries: A Passage to Indian Freedom (2008-09-08)

by David John Marotta

India dDuring the cold war was highly socialistic with the government exercising control over every aspect of the economy. These restrictive policies caused extremely low growth rates, derisively dubbed the "Hindu rate of growth."


Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=300

BRIC Countries: Russia (2008-09-01)

by David John Marotta

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has been trying to remake itself and regain its former glory and respect. But a lack of glasnost ("tell the truth") and perestroika ("decentralize power") still plagues the country.


Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=299

BRIC Countries: Brazil (2008-08-25)

by David John Marotta

In 2003, the Goldman Sachs Global Economics Department predicted the economic and geopolitical influence of Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) would become increasingly visible in the developed world and even dominate it by 2050.


Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=298

Behavioral Finance: Patience Is Its Own Reward (2008-08-18)

by David John Marotta

To process financial information, our minds often attempt unwise shortcuts. By understanding behavioral finance, we can limit the information we use and keep our decisions balanced and on track.

Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=297

Behavioral Finance: Herd Mentality (2008-08-11)

by David John Marotta

One of the early studies on herd mentality was the Solomon Asch experiments in the 1950s. The setup was a mock vision test. In reality, all but one of the participants were actors, who after a few correct answers started agreeing unanimously on a wrong choice.

Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=296

Behavioral Finance: Overconfidence (2008-08-04)

by David John Marotta

Think of confidence as a continuum: Lack of confidence is paralyzing, self-confidence is good, but overconfidence is deadly. Successful investors seek to find a balance between rashness and timidity. Understanding the psychology that causes us to act overconfidently will help you avoid it.

Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=295

Behavioral Finance: Mental Accounting (2008-07-28)

by David John Marotta

The essence of successful financial planning is using your money to meet your life's goals. Curiously our minds tend to fall prey to the fallacy that behavioral finance calls mental accounting.


Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=294

Behavioral Finance: Anchoring (2008-07-21)

by David John Marotta

Our first reaction to a complicated situation, usually instinctive, often does not serve our best interests. One heuristic that the brain uses to solve complex evaluations is to make an initial guess and then adjust from that point. This mental process is called "anchoring."

Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=293

Foreign Freedom Investing 2008 (2008-07-14)

by David John Marotta

You can both diversify for safety and boost your returns by adding international investments to your portfolio. In the past year, international stocks performed 2.5% better than U.S. stocks. And developed countries with the most economic freedom returned an additional 4.4% more than the international index.

Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=292

Rebalance Accounts Regularly (2008-07-07)

by David John Marotta

A year ago when the markets were all setting new highs, people were asking what they should do with their retirement portfolio. I answered, "Rebalance." Now that the market is setting new lows, I get the same question, and my response hasn't changed.

Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=291

Inflation Part 3: Protecting Yourself Against Inflation (2008-06-30)

by David John Marotta

Officially, inflation today is calculated about 4%. Unofficially, it is over 7%. You can hedge your assets against underreported inflation and protect your retirement goals.


Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=290

Inflation Part 2: The Results of Underreporting Inflation (2008-06-23)

by David John Marotta

Officially, inflation today is about 4%. Unofficially, it is over 7%. Inflation at this rate causes serious harm to our nation's economy and its citizens.


Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=289

Inflation Part 1: How the Government Lies About Inflation (2008-06-16)

by David John Marotta

Officially, inflation today is calculated about 4%. Unofficially, it is over 7%. Since 1997 the government Consumer Price Index (CPI) has manipulated the raw data and significantly underreported inflation.


Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=288

Maximum Safe Withdrawal Rates in Retirement (2008-06-09)

by David John Marotta

Certain assumptions such as maximum safe withdrawal rate are critical in order not to compromise a long and successful retirement.


Read the complete column at http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=287