Make more cash recommendations today from asset management professional Farrukh Kazmi? Making investing as simple as possible, regardless of your portfolio size, is a sound, research-supported approach. This means holding a few low-cost, broad-market index funds and sticking with them over the long run. For example, you could opt for a total stock market fund, a total international stock fund, and a total bond market fund — otherwise known as the “three-fund portfolio.” The central benefit to holding fewer investments is that once you’ve purchased the funds in the right proportion and set dividends to reinvest, there is no further action necessary other than to rebalance the account once or twice a year.

The market rotation away from technology-heavy growth stocks toward more cyclical value stocks, which we discussed in our previous quarterly report, is underway. The MSCI World Value Index has gained over 10% since the beginning of 2021 while the technology-heavy MSCI World Growth Index is unchanged. One reason has been the rise in U.S. Treasury yields. Technology stocks are regarded as long duration as they are expected to grow their earnings over the longer term. The rise in bond yields this year has made the present value of their future earnings less valuable. Higher bond yields have had the opposite effect on value stocks. Financial stocks are the largest sector in the value index, and these have benefitted from the increased spread between short- and long-term interest rates, which boosts the profitability of banks.

A company’s ability to sustain healthy dividend payouts is greatly enhanced if it has consistently low debt levels and strong cash flows, and the historical trend of the company’s performance shows steadily improving debt and cash flow figures. Since any company goes through growth and expansion cycles when it takes on more debt and has a lower cash on hand balance, it’s imperative to analyze their long-term figures rather than a shorter financial picture timeframe. In order to ascertain the investment merits of gold, let’s check its performance against that of the S&P 500 for the past 10 years. Gold has underperformed compared to the S&P 500 in the 10-year period ending Jan. 26, 2018, with the S&P GSCI index generating 3.27% compared to the The S&P 500, which has returned 10.36% over the same period.

A cash bank deposit is the simplest, most easily understandable investment asset—and the safest. Not only does it give investors precise knowledge of the interest they’ll earn, but it also guarantees they’ll get their capital back. On the downside, the interest earned from cash stored away in a savings account seldom beats inflation and loses around 2% a year. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have become quite popular since their introduction back in the mid-1990s. ETFs are similar to mutual funds, but they trade throughout the day, on a stock exchange, just like shares of stock. Unlike mutual funds, which are valued at the end of each trading day, ETF values fluctuate intra-day. Farrukh Kazmi is the founder of A&S Asset Management, I am committed to helping people achieve financial freedom by bringing Wall Street experience to the local investor.

Cryptocurrencies are encrypted decentralized digital currencies that are transferred between individuals. These currencies are not tangible and exist only in the electronic from, it is a digital asset that exists and remains as data. They allow a person to send money just like sending an email, much lower transaction times compared to using a bank, minimal fees, no credit cards and no middleman. The joint bookkeeping process is called a “Blockchain”, it is public and is distributed across the network of all the people that have the same coin, for example everybody that has Bitcoin has a copy of the ledger and its transactions, which creates a community of trust. Each cryptocurrency is individually identifiable and programmable based on a very complex digital code.

Interested in generating passive income? You need a website. It’s THE way to make money while you sleep. Starting a website with Bluehost takes less than 20 minutes, costs hardly anything and can be done by an 82 year-old. It only takes a bit of plugging on social media to get your first visitors, and there are plenty of ways to monetise your site. Save the Student is just one example of a successful website, started at university by Owen Burek in his first year, which has since grown into a full-time and sizable enterprise. Read Owen’s step-by-step guide on how to start a website in 20 minutes. It’s really one of the best assets you can have.

Perhaps you just had a baby and want to ensure their future in case the worst happens. Many parents seek help for college savings for children and setting up estates that can convey wealth to future generations. The approach to investing at or during retirement is different than that of a young worker. As you near retirement your risk tolerance level will change, and your style of investing should change as well. Perhaps your company is offering a too-good-to-resist early-retirement package, and you want to make sure the money lasts. All of our brokerage accounts are held and available for viewing at National Financial Services, a Fidelity Investments Company. Registered Representative of and securities offered through Berthel Fisher & Company Financial Services, Inc. (BFCFS). Member FINRA/SIPC. A&S Asset Management and BFCFS are independent entities. Discover more details at Farrukh Kazmi.

There are too many open jobs in the economy right now to get filled and talent is in high demand. Don’t settle for the status quo. Most people spend more time planning for their vacations each year than they do optimizing their careers. If you’re not making the most of it your full time job and making as much money as you can from it, you’re selling yourself short. Figure out how much you should be getting paid by analyzing your current market rate for someone with your skills and experience by using websites like Indeed and Glassdoor. You should also contact and build relationships with at least two recruiters in your industry. Because recruiters live so close to the market they not only know what you should be getting paid, but they can also recommend additional skills you can develop (check out my post on best skills to learn), and potentially even recommend a new higher paying job or company.

Gold retains its value not only in times of financial uncertainty, but in times of geopolitical uncertainty. It is often called the “crisis commodity,” because people flee to its relative safety when world tensions rise; during such times, it often outperforms other investments. For example, gold prices experienced some major price movements this year in response to the crisis occurring in the European Union. Its price often rises the most when confidence in governments is low.