by Douglas Goldstein | Nov 14, 2017 | Chess Strategies, Financial Strategies, Podcasts |
What is one of the worst financial risks? How about losing money in high tax payments. You can prevent this from happening by putting some of your earnings into a tax-deferred investment. Find out how this helps by looking at the knight on the chessboard, which performs best when it finds a square in enemy territory that can’t be touched by your opponent’s... Click for more
by Doug Goldstein CFP® | Nov 7, 2017 | Chess, Decision Making |
Is it always an act of kindness to give your adult children financial support? Many parents who give their grown children financial assistance have good intentions. While their generosity appears to be a gift on the surface, these adult children may pay a heavy price for the free money. Why is supporting your adult children so damaging? When overprotecting your king ruins your game Let’s take a look at what happens if a chess player is too protective of his most vulnerable piece – the king: As the most important piece on the board, the king needs protection. But sometimes building a strong fortification around the king makes it more susceptible to a deadly attack since it cannot move itself out of harm’s way. Too much protection of a valuable piece can actually stifle its movements. Similarly, as a “chess dad,” who has watched winning and losing tournaments, I can tell you how difficult it is not to help my kids. I know that when the pressure is on, it’s important to let them play their own game. By giving them space to move themselves, they learn how to become self-sufficient. This teaches an important financial lesson: Sometimes overprotecting a valuable asset leads to its ultimate downfall. This may happen if you give too much financial support to your children. Consider those folks who hover over every aspect of their children’s lives, buying their sons and daughters anything they want. Their tuition and extracurricular activities, no matter how expensive, get delivered to them, along with credit cards to use without needing to pay the bills. Finally after grad school,... Click for more
by Douglas Goldstein | Oct 31, 2017 | Financial Strategies, Podcasts |
If you are thinking of investing in gold, you can either buy physical gold or put your money into a gold ETF. Which is better? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? If you are thinking of investing in gold, find out how to protect yourself against potential fraud and the actual costs of storing gold. How much does it cost to insure gold? Listen to what you need to know about investing in gold on this financial... Click for more
by Doug Goldstein CFP® | Oct 24, 2017 | Chess Strategies, Strategic Thinking |
If you want to boost your financial returns, try applying one of my favorite chess tactics – the chess fork – to managing your money. What is a chess fork, and how does it work? When a chess player forks his opponent, he moves his piece to a strategic square, threatening two of his opponent’s pieces at the same time. Since his opponent cannot save both threatened pieces simultaneously, the chess fork gives its player a distinct advantage. A chess fork can help you achieve two goals through a single action, as illustrated by the expression: “Kill two birds with one stone.” In finance, this can be compared to enhancing one of your assets so that it fulfills two or more of your financial goals. In this way, you receive multiple benefits from a single investment. Enhance your retirement funds One great way to make your assets work double-time for you is to put money into an IRA or a 401(k). These retirement plans are similar to the concept of a using a fork in chess, since a single action reaps multiple benefits: You get a current tax deduction – the money you put into the retirement plan lowers the amount of tax you pay today. Your money grows tax deferred – if you put money into an IRA or 401(k), you are only taxed on the profits when you withdraw any funds. Then, you are only taxed on the amount that you have withdrawn, not what remains inside the account. By leaving your money to grow untaxed, you will gain more. If you have a 401(k) plan from... Click for more
by Douglas Goldstein | Oct 17, 2017 | Chess Strategies, Decision Making, Podcasts |
To invest in stocks, you need to know how to choose the ones that are best for you. In this financial podcast, apply Susan’s way of choosing which chess pieces to move on the board to determine which stocks to buy. Once you’ve chosen your stocks, decide how involved you want to be with managing your investments and take a look at the different options that are available to... Click for more
by Doug Goldstein CFP® | Oct 10, 2017 | Decision Making |
What is your most effective money-making asset? The answer is – your inner potential. If you work hard and maximize your abilities, you, and by extension your wealth, have amazing growth potential. When you play chess, there are many different pieces and techniques to choose from. But YOU are the only one who can actually move the pieces around the board. Even if you play an automated chess game, it’s ultimately your decisions that help you win. Without you and the choices you make, there’s no game. Even the queen, arguably the most effective and versatile chess piece, can’t move by herself. You have the power Similarly, the surest way to build your wealth is to maximize your potential. How do you do that? Education Knowledge is power. Even if you were not raised with good financial habits, you can always learn. There is a wealth of online information about the basics of personal finance – such as stocks and bonds, how to budget, and investing techniques such as asset allocation, and much more. Arm yourself with knowledge, and you will have a greater potential to make sound financial choices. Get good advice Don’t make financial decisions alone. Find an objective, qualified financial advisor to give you clear advice and teach you. Although you ultimately make the choices it’s always good to have help in the form of a qualified professional. Make the most out of yourself More than any other wealth-building tool, your own earning capacity and self-discipline can determine whether you will succeed in becoming as “rich as a king.” In order to maximize your career opportunities,... Click for more
by Douglas Goldstein | Oct 3, 2017 | Chess Strategies, Podcasts, Strategic Thinking |
Do you use a defensive strategy when you play chess or manage your finances? Chess grandmasters use defensive tactics to prevent their opponents from having any chance of successful attack. Listen to this podcast to get tactics you can use to defend your investments, as well as your chess pieces. The opposite of being defensive is being aggressive. Listen to The Goldstein on Gelt Show from 10/2/17 to get the free download “You Don’t Even Know How Aggressive an Investor You Really... Click for more
by Doug Goldstein CFP® | Sep 26, 2017 | Asset Allocation, Financial Plan |
One great tool for assessing the probability of risk and future success is the Monte Carlo simulation. This is true in both chess and personal finance. What is a Monte Carlo simulation, and how can it help you plan ahead? No one knows the future A Monte Carlo simulation is a computerized mathematical algorithm that builds models of possible outcomes and probabilities that may occur. It was first invented during World War II by scientists working on the atom bomb and was named after Monte Carlo, the capital of Monaco, which is famous for its casinos. Monte Carlo simulation featured in high level chess programs (like this popular chess software) assesses the risks and probabilities of using various openings and moves. While you can’t predict the future, using the Monte Carlo simulation to play out each possible move in thousands of different iterations can give you an idea of which path has the greatest odds of success. Use Monte Carlo simulations to assess your asset allocation Monte Carlo simulation is also applied to financial planning. While past performance is not a guarantee of future returns, Monte Carlo simulations can determine – based on a very large number of tests – the probability of achieving certain outcomes using real past historical data. With a database of historical asset returns, Monte Carlo simulation programs can look at specific asset allocations (i.e., 30% U.S. stocks, 25% foreign stocks, 40% corporate bonds, 5% cash) and simulate how that asset allocation would perform over a randomized assortment of market conditions. Plug your actual allocation into the system, or test any model you want, and... Click for more
