The Mission Critical Blog
Should You Convert Your Traditional IRA Into a Roth?
When the Studebaker car company ceased production in 1966, it wasn't just their business that failed. Auditors found that the company's pension fund also had serious problems, leaving thousands of workers with reduced benefits or none at all. The Studebaker employees' retirement was completely reliant on the success of a single company. Sadly, all their eggs were in the wrong basket. In response to this and other pension disasters, congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). [...]
Data Threat: Don’t Automatically Scan That QR Code
You've just been seated at a restaurant and while you're waiting for your server, you see a little sticker on the tabletop that says, "Scan me for today's lunch specials." It would be great to save a few bucks. So you pull out your phone and point the camera at the little square. What could go wrong? According to mobile security experts, plenty.Even if you're not familiar with the term QR code, you've certainly seen lots of them. [...]
Should You Be Considering Tax-Loss Harvesting?
As we’ve mentioned numerous times, temporary declines in stock market prices become permanent only when you sell out of those positions. If a stock or fund loses value, it’s best to fight the urge to cut your losses while it’s only a loss on paper, because you don’t know when it might recover. Thus the strategy of holding a diverse portfolio (where all instruments are less likely to decline at once) with a view to the long-term is [...]
Inflation: the good, the bad and the truth
Recently, a number of folks have asked me: So… we know you’re a pretty optimistic person. But what’s the most bearish or worst-case scenario for the stock market right now? There is a lot of bad news despite the media attempting to paint things in a good light. In truth, you have to balance being optimistic with being realistic. I’m a long-term optimist with an understanding that things can and will get really bad on occasion. See [...]
Why People Make Dumb Financial Decisions on Purpose
Do people really make dumb decisions.... on purpose?! That would actually be called 'cognitive dissonance'. And certainly, people can often work against their own best interests because they follow the wrong information, based on biases. However, the topic we're addressing today has to do with the fact that financial decisions are personal. As in, each of us has unique goals, concerns or interests. What might be okay for me, might be too risky for you because the perception of risk [...]
If you have a Federal Employee TSP – Watch This Video
Do You Know How Your TSP Dollars Are Being Invested? What is Blackrock you ask? In January 2022, West Virginia Republican State Treasurer Riley Moore announced that the state would no longer be using BlackRock Inc. for banking transactions due to the company’s involvement in China and its policies related to coal and natural gas. Well, in June 2021, Tucker Carlson exposed how BlackRock and other investment firms like it, are "killing the [...]
