investing

Elm3’s Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

2023-05-11T14:59:37-04:00July 28th, 2022|Blog, Investments|

Elm3's Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) By: Stacey Nickens As investors, we are always inundated with reminders to diversify our portfolios. Diversification involves adding lots of companies to your portfolio, such that your portfolio is exposed to a variety of company sizes, company styles, and sectors. Diversifying your portfolio helps create stability. If one [...]

Goals-Based Savings Can Help You Withstand Market Volatility

2023-05-11T15:21:45-04:00October 29th, 2021|Blog, Financial Planning, Investments|

Goals-Based Savings Can Help You Withstand Market Volatility By: Stacey Nickens Financial planners and investment advisors have traditionally advocated for a bucket-approach to savings. With the bucket approach, you segment your savings by time until withdrawal. A goals-based approach to saving is a twist on this method. Rather than segmenting your savings by time [...]

May Stock Market Recap

2023-05-11T15:30:21-04:00June 4th, 2021|Blog, Inflation, Investments|

May Stock Market Recap By: Stacey Nickens Just as April showers have brought about the growth of May flowers, so has reopening and COVID vaccine distribution brought about the growth of the American economy. In May, we saw additional evidence that the United States is showing strong economy growth, exhibiting many of the metrics [...]

Investing in the Stay-At-Home Economy

2023-05-11T15:33:28-04:00April 9th, 2021|Blog, Investments|

Investing in the Stay-At-Home Economy By: Stacey Nickens If you've ever been a parent or babysitter, you have likely dreaded the moment your little one complained, "I'm bored!" Yet lockdowns and quarantines may have had you muttering this same phrase to yourself during the past year. With restaurants closed at different periods of time, [...]

Investments That Could Benefit From Biden’s Infrastructure Plan

2023-05-11T15:33:36-04:00April 5th, 2021|Blog, Investments|

Investments That Could Benefit From Biden's Infrastructure Plan By: Stacey Nickens Last week, President Joe Biden revealed his American Jobs Plan. This plan would invest over $2 trillion into American infrastructure projects, including improving highways and modernizing state and federal facilities, amongst other goals. While the plan still needs to pass Congress, many analysts [...]

I’m nervous about the market’s performance this week. What should I do?

2023-05-11T15:38:13-04:00January 29th, 2021|Blog, Investments|

I'm nervous about the market's performance this week. What should I do? By: Stacey Nickens Watching the stock market this week felt a little bit like sitting in the middle of a casino. There was so much noise and flashing lights, it was hard to figure out what was actually going on. Where was [...]

Should I invest in mutual funds in retirement?

2023-05-11T15:38:29-04:00January 18th, 2021|Blog, Investments, Retirement|

Should I invest in mutual funds in retirement? By: Stacey Nickens Mutual funds are very common investment vehicles inside of pensions, 401(k)s, and other savings accounts. People often choose mutual funds because they allow individuals to invest in hundreds of companies at once, reducing their investment risks through diversification. However, as you move into [...]

3 Common Investing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

2020-12-18T14:30:47-05:00December 11th, 2020|Blog|

3 Common Investing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them By: Stacey Nickens We all know the old truism, "Learn from your mistakes." However, learning from your mistakes is not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes we are not able to identify the specific mistake that we made. Or we are unsure how to fix or [...]

5 Strategies for Managing Your Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan

2020-11-10T15:39:03-05:00November 9th, 2020|Blog|

5 Strategies for Managing Your Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan By: Stacey Nickens Pension plans have traditionally funded many American's retirements. However, pension plans are becoming increasingly uncommon. In their absence, more retirees are relying on 401(k)s, 403(b)s, or 457 plans. However, I often find that individuals do not take an active role in managing or reviewing [...]

Positions I’m Watching: Zynga (ZNGA)

2020-09-28T11:38:44-04:00September 28th, 2020|Blog|

Positions I'm Watching: Zynga (ZNGA) By: Stacey Nickens Due to the pandemic, more and more people are trying to find creative ways to entertain themselves at home. For that reason, stocks in gaming companies offer attractive growth potential. One such company, Zynga (ZNGA), develops and operates mobile and social networking games. Their second-quarter revenue grew [...]