Kevin Kroskey's Money & Mind

With spring finally here, I have a bit of a spring in my step. With a bit of a light-hearted, spring-time flair, I thought I'd share a clip from Alonzo Bodden. Alonzo has a comedy special airing on Showtime. The clip below talks about the 'Fear of Disease.' In today's world, there's always a crisis going on somewhere--financial crises included. At the potential cost of our peace of mind, they are usually showing up in our newspapers, television news, and other media outlets. Remember to keep things in perspective and don't get too caught up in the crises du jour. Think positively. Think Spring. Laugh a little. To Your Prosperity, Kevin Kroskey, CFP, MBA

If you're like me, you find the 1000 page plus Heathcare Reform Act a bit confusing. This nine minute animated movie -- featuring the "YouToons" -- explains the problems with the current health care system, the changes that are happening now, and the big changes coming in 2014, produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Kevin Kroskey, CFP, MBA

I'd like to remind everyone to not be too anxious to file your taxes. Many taxpayers rush to file their tax returns as quickly as possible. Ordinarily, that’s fine. But if you own mutual funds, don’t file your tax return before March 1. In past years, revised 1099s were often issued, reclassifying distributions and/or their amounts. This was a huge headache for the investors who had already filed tax returns based on the original documentation. These hapless consumers found themselves forced to redo their returns and file amended tax returns, adjusting the amount they owed or were due in refunds - and paying their tax preparer additional fees to do the extra work. It looks like 2010 may be the same. Therefore, if you own mutual funds, do not file your tax return before March 1. By then, any amended IRS forms are likely to arrive, potentially helping you avoid the hassle and costs of filing an amended return. Kevin Kroskey, CFP, MBA

Small cap stocks outperformed large cap stocks by a significant margin in most global markets last year but capturing the size premium required both patience and a willingness to ignore the advice from those claiming to identify the best-performing asset classes in advance. US small stocks got off to a strong start last year as the Russell 2000 Index jumped to a gain of 18.6% through April 23, more than double the return of the S&P 500®. But as stock prices wilted during the summer, small caps fell even faster and by August 24th both large cap and small cap indices were down roughly 5% for the year. A surprisingly strong rally during the remainder of the year drove the Russell 2000 up 31.5%, and for the year as a whole it was the best performance for US small stocks since 2003. The strength in small cap stocks caught a number of financial pundits flat-footed. An article appearing in the Wall Street Journal in mid-November 2009 claimed “small caps aren’t looking that cheap anymor...

It's that time of year when many of us are thinking about the New Year's resolutions we set for ourselves. This often means committing to improving one's lifestyle by losing weight or exercising more. Some investors could probably benefit from resolutions targeting their financial health as well. Just as many individuals endanger their well-being with bad habits, numerous investors suffer from ill-advised practices that are detrimental to their wealth. Perhaps a set of New Year's investment resolutions will lead to a more prosperous future. Everybody wants to be healthier, and many people want to be wealthier, but it's just not that easy. Most of us are creatures of habit and discover that making permanent changes in our behavior is surprisingly difficult. We need every possible mental crutch at our disposal to help us adhere to a new regimen; hence we establish mental road signs, such as New Year's resolutions, as behavioral aids. So, for those who find mak...

The article below is a timely one from Dimensional Fund Advisor's (DFA) Jim Parker, VP of DFA Australia. Though Ireland is a country there are many lessons to be learned from Ireland's missteps by the individual investor. ---- Reaching understanding on the right way to invest often starts with studying bad investment decisions. But the lessons are far less painful when they are built on others’ experiences. Recent events in Europe provide case studies on what can go wrong when a wealth-building strategy is built on too much debt , too little diversification and too little awareness of risk. Ireland in recent years, for whatever reason, became heavily dependent on a couple of industries – namely construction and banking. The IMF1 in a report this year described the causes of these imbalances as “rapid credit growth, inflated property prices and high wage and price levels”. Now, an economy is clearly much more complex than any individual and the ability of governments ...

It's quite difficult if not virtually impossible to have forecasting abilities to consistently predict future economic scenarios. Even if a prediction about what will happen to our economy is done accurately, an investor is not done yet. In order to capitalize upon an accurate economic prediction, the investor must still translate the economic prediction into a successful investment strategy and must also get the timing of it correct. No small feat indeed. As we get through a political season where much in relation to our country's economics have been discussed or at least used in the negative political ads that seemingly permanently reside on my television, it's helpful to keep things in perspective and look at things objectively. Marlena Lee, Researcher with Dimensional Fund Advisors, examines historical data to test the relationships between fiscal deficits, interest rates, business activity, investment returns, and exchange rates in a video and/or podcast available b...