Most experts, and frankly, most humans agree that the climate is changing as a result of human activity. Many people are looking for ways to lessen their carbon footprint. As consumers, we often use reusable shopping bags, opt for fuel efficient vehicles, and adopt smart technology to decrease our energy usage. These decisions have economic impact in addition to their environmental benefits. Some of us are so concerned about how climate change can affect us in our lifetimes a

Recently, investors have become infatuated with Opportunity Funds, a popular new vehicle to reap attractive tax incentives while investing in positive social impact projects. Opportunity Funds stimulate private investment, rather than committing federal taxpayer dollars, in projects that encourage real estate development and economic activity in designated opportunity zones. Created by the Investment in Opportunity Act and introduced with the 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, opportu

With the growing popularity of index funds and ETFs, investors are often seeking a low cost approach to a diversified portfolio. And let’s face it, these products, coupled with technology advances in financial services, are allowing ordinary investors to build meaningful wealth in an accessible way. Now, contrast these take-it-or-leave-it products in an age where many people are willing to pay a premium to ensure their coffee/chocolate/soap/t-shirt/apples do not exploit their

The Elections Are Over... Now What? ​Presidential election years and the following first year of a presidency present a lot of questions. This uncertainty leads to anxiety and fears along with volatility in financial markets. Financial markets like predictability of future events. So what does this all mean for your portfolios and financial plans? Here are our thoughts. From 1926-2013, the average return of the S&P 500 in the year following an election is +9.3%. (Chart Credit

In the second part of this blog series, we'll take a look at a few of the implicit costs of investing. These costs are not easily observed and can be difficult to quantify. Portfolio Turnover Turnover is a measure of how frequently a portfolio manager buys and sells assets in a fund within a 12-month time period. Every time a manager buys or sells a security within the fund, the brokerage firm assesses a transaction fee. A fund with a high turnover ratio incurs more fees

AIO Financial is a fee-only financial planning firm in Tucson and Phoenix, AZ. They specialize in Socially Responsible Investing. Bill Holliday, a Certified Financial Planner, offered to write for our blog this week. Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) SRI (also known as sustainable, socially conscious, and ethical investing) continues to grow at a faster pace than conventional investment assets. The idea is to invest in-line with your values. SRI provides a way to suppor

A recent CNBC survey discovered that more than 1/3 of millionaire families, defined as those with investable assets over $1 million, have not established an estate plan with a proper financial expert. Why? Perhaps the constant changes to federal estate-tax law have continued to confuse families, as they can’t keep up with the ever-changing law. Some families simply think they don’t need to establish a plan, as the latest exemption stands at $5.43 million per person – in ot

Are you financially prepared for Retirement? ​Many people have plans of retiring later than they actually do. Because of this, they are unprepared financially retirement Around 28% of workers have less than $1,000 in savings and investments to use for retirement. And 57% have less than $25,000 saved, according to a study by Employee Benefit Research Institute. Many people plan to work much later in their life than anticipated. In the study, 50% of employees left the wor

Emerging markets have become an increasingly popular topic in financial publications and other media. What are emerging markets? Definitions vary, however the term “emerging markets” generally represents countries whose economies are expanding rapidly (usually measured by GDP growth). Emerging markets are on the path to becoming “developed markets” as evidenced by increasing liquidity in financial markets. Countries include: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Korea, and I