News Archive

Dennis A. Suckstorf interviewed for the Baltimore Sun by Eileen Ambrose. Maryland lawyers and advisers have been in a holding pattern waiting for Congress to act.

J. Michael Martin interviewed for The Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2010, by Ben Levinson. Investors frustrated with stocks are jumping en masse into the safety of bonds. The yields on Treasurys have plunged to lows last seen during the worst of the financial crisis.

Lyn A. Dippel interviewed by Tim Grant for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Losing a spouse brings with it a host of issues, not the least of which is how the surviving spouse will support himself or herself financially. Elderly widows, in particular, have a higher likelihood of facing poverty as they struggle with grief.

J. Michael Martin, President and Chief Investment Officer of Financial Advantage discusses what he expects the market to look like in the next 10 years.

Curtis R. Gross interviewed for Fidelity.com. Finding winning growth stocks is a challenge in any sort of economy. Finding them in an economy where few sectors seem to be growing much at all is an even greater challenge — but by no means an impossible one. Tight credit, high debt burdens and the upcoming end to the federal government's monetary and stimulus programs will likely mean modest economic growth through the fall. That, experts say, makes it critical for investors to employ strict criteria when seeking out growth stocks.

Chad J. Norfolk interviewed for the Wall Street Journal. These volatile ETF's can magnify performance - but also deliver unexpected results.

After 15 years in their second marriage, the husband was preparing to retire with $1 million in his IRA, and the wife, who had been a stay-at-home mom, was shocked to learn she had no ownership rights to the account. "She was devastated," said Lyn Dippel, a lawyer and financial planner at Financial Advantage in Baltimore. "She had raised the kids all this time and had no money to leave her two kids from a former marriage.

J. Michael Martin Interviewed for Bloomberg Business Week. There remain glimmers of hope for bond investors. "Rising rates are not a foregone conclusion," says J. Michael Martin, president of financial planning firm Financial Advantage in Columbia, Md. A weak economy could keep the Fed from raising interest rates. Even if the Fed raises short-term rates, long-term rates could remain low if the threat of inflation seems limited.

The outlook for freedom and growth in the U.S. and China. In our January column (“A Sensible Strategy”) we suggested gradually increasing allocations to emerging markets. We cautioned, though, that not all emerging markets are created equal. “Transparency is always a concern, and whether citizens are increasingly free is probably the most critical variable to evaluate and monitor.

Dennis A. Suckstorf interviewd by Joy Slabaugh for the FPA Website. In a tax code rife with acronyms, even savvy investors are confused by popular retirement vehicles like traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and Roth IRAs. Understanding these subtle differences can help you strategically plan for retirement.

Sixty years of endless summer are winding down. Investors have happily surfed atop a long, beautiful but increasingly dangerous wave of credit. The past two years have been like the last days of August. We realized it was ending, but we were intent on enjoying every last drop of its pleasures because we knew we wouldn’t see it again.

You have heard about the Roth conversion law for 2010. It’s in the news and everyone is talking about it. Beginning in January 2010, anyone can convert a traditional IRA (qualified retirement plan) to a Roth IRA without any income limitations.

People close to or in retirement need investments that will beat inflation. CDs—one of the lowest-risk investment options available—won’t do it in the current market. So how can you top inflation without exposing yourself too heavily to the stock market?

In investing, sometimes the best offense is a good defense. Does today's market environment require us to consider a radical new kind of portfolio design? I think we have a lot of correction possibilities going on here. That led me to say, what can we do that is totally, dependably opposite?

As we’ve all learned, the party doesn’t go on forever. Here’s how to improve your investment results by analyzing potential economic scenarios.

If MPT and the stock market are hurting your business, here are some things you can do about it. Many, or per-haps most, of us financial advisors make our living by billing clients a percentage of “Assets Under Management.” We supervise their portfolios, but we also provide a host of valuable noninvestment financial planning services for which we charge … well, nothing!

Financial Advantage, Inc. listed by Wealth Manager Magazine as one of the top wealth managers in the country. One year ago, when Wealth Manager published the 2008 Top Wealth Manager rankings, we wrote about how challenging the macroeconomic scene had become for even the top wealth managers.

A newly widowed woman—or man—has to deal with many complex estate and financial matters. It can be overwhelming, particularly if the spouse was the primary financial manager and decision maker. There are some aspects of financial management that many struggle with in particular.

Over the past 12-18 months, there has been a significant downturn in the financial markets. IRA accounts and other investment accounts do not have the same value they did at the end of 2007. With the devaluation of these accounts, especially IRA accounts, many people are wondering, “Should we convert part or all of our traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?”

As advisors probe for answers, many have begun to examine their basic big-picture assumptions about the world in which we live and earn our living.

Facing a recession and a down stock market, many people are stopping or cutting back their contributions to retirement plans like 401(k)s, IRAs and SEP IRAs.

Lyn A. Dippel interviewed for Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Economy has even the affluent doubting they have enough saved for comfortable retirement. The poor and middle class aren't the only ones sweating bullets over their ability to retire when their working days are done. Even the wealthy are worried about their financial future, according to a recent study.

Lyn A. Dippel interviewed for Insurance Broadcasting. If you’re not withdrawing money from your portfolio, volatility doesn’t matter if the return is the same in the end. But if you’re a retiree taking money out, it can make a big difference.

Chad J. Norfolk interviewed for Insurance Broadcasting. Leveraged exchange-traded funds can trade at big premiums—as high as 10% intraday—from their net asset value. This is the spread—the difference between the bid and ask price.

J. Michael Martin interviewed for the Christian Science Monitor. As the list of wealthy individuals, institutions, and charities that have lost millions, even billions of dollars in the Bernard Madoff fraud case continues to grow, other investors have been asking an important question: Why was there no independent custodian holding the securities and other assets Madoff's firm was said to be investing?

Featuring J. Michael Martin - Financial Planning Magazine. Volatility is up, rationality seems down. Stocks soar and sink (more sinking, to be sure) from hour to hour, even minute to minute. From mid-May to mid-November last year, the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index went from flat for the year to down more than 40% year-to-date.

J. Michael Martin Interviewed for Business Week Magazine. Top money managers pick stocks that offer refuge in a brutally turbulent market.

J. Micheal Martin interviewed for Howard County Times. Advisers see opportunities in stock market's turmoil. With talk of Wall Street bailouts and company collapses dominating the news, ordinary investors might be cringing as they watch the stock market fall and rise -- sometimes dramatically. But according to local financial planners, now is not the time to panic.

J. Michael Martin interviewed for U.S. News & World Report. J. Michael Martin, president and CIO of Financial Advantage, a Columbia, Md., fee-only financial planner, says there is still lots of risk in the market and that now isn't the time to be lashing your investment future to U.S. stock indexes. He argues that when markets are in bad shape for a long stretch, it's more important to target healthy bits of the market rather than seek safety by playing the whole field.

Lyn A. Dippel Interviewed for Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Some investments you think are safe might actually be losers. Investors who can't make sense of today's stormy stock market might think the safety and security of bond mutual funds and money market accounts are a way to avoid losing money.

J. Michael Martin Interviewed for New Jersey Business News. Who knew U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain could be economic indicators? Investors will be watching how the two candidates' tax and spending plans will affect stock and bond prices after the conventions wrap up next week. But politics isn't the only factor weighing on the minds of people who are wondering where to put their money this fall.

J. Michael Martin interviewed for Financial Advisor Magazine. A popular characterization of the baby boomers is that they’ve saved little and will therefore draw on home equity to meet retirement income needs. But what happens when neither stocks nor residential real estate holds its value? Retirement plans must be rethought, modified and, hopefully, salvaged.

J. Michael Martin Featured interviewed for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Gold was out of sight and out of mind for most investors for more than 20 years while it consistently lost value and was widely considered to be a losing proposition. But recently the precious metal has regained its shine.

Is now the time to jump on opportunities in gold and energy, like unloved Canadian oil trusts, while putting unusually high percentage in money markets and short-term bonds?

Interviewing J. Michael Martin - Investment News