Fidelity Government Money Market FDRXX You are Paying Too Much in State Tax!

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Feb 25, 2025 | Blog, Tax Planning for Retirement

Investors have invested over $230 billion in the Fidelity Government Cash Reserves Fund, FDRXX. Many of them end up paying state income tax on a portion of their dividend that should be tax-exempt at the state level. How the Tax Mistake Occurs For after-tax investment...

How Your Fee-Based Financial Advisor Hides Commissions

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Feb 22, 2025 | Blog, Fiduciary Standard

Fee-Based Financial Advisors, aka dual-registrants, have both a series 7 stockbroker license and a series 65 investment adviser license. Sometimes they have an insurance license too. According to FINRA, approximately 90% of financial advisors are fee-based dual...

Building a Diversified Portfolio – Three Signs Your Plan Will Fail

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Feb 21, 2025 | Asset Allocation, Blog

There is a simple litmus test to determine if your diversified portfolio will fail. Ask yourself the following questions. Do you understand every single investment in your portfolio? Do you know why you own every single investment in your portfolio? Can you...

T-bills vs CDs Which One is Better?

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Feb 20, 2025 | Blog, Investing, Investment Risk

Investors looking for safety often put their money into certificates of deposit, aka CDs. But many of them would be better off if they purchased T-bills instead of CDs. In this article we will compare T-bills to CDs across three categories; taxes, fees and risk. Taxes...

Sequence of Negative Returns Risk is Higher than you Think!

by Ethan S. Braid, CFA | Feb 18, 2025 | Blog, Investment Risk, Retirement Planning

Sequence of negative returns risk is something that many investors fail to consider when planning their retirement or assessing their risk tolerance. Sequence of negative returns risk is the risk that at some point during your retirement, you will experience...