Financial Fellow

Written by J.P. Wicklein

I came across a segment about the future of Berkshire Hathaway after Warren Buffett dies. Due to Buffett’s advanced age, he just turned 79, the Berkshire Board of Directors often discusses potential successors. The Bloomberg feature discusses a couple possible contenders to take over the $156 billion company. (Try not to get hypnotized by the tickers.)

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Written by J.P. Wicklein
     Zecco Trading just announced a promotion awarding new customers 20 free online stock trades.  Here are the details: 
·         The account must be opened by Sunday, September 13, 2009 using promo code “bonus1” (case sensitive).
·         The 20 free stock trades will be granted on or before September 16th, 2009. 
·         Any [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein
     Whether you’re looking to create wealth, or just add a few bucks to your bottom line, I’d suggest exploring sources of residual income. 
What is residual income?
     Residual income is money you earn over and over again without performing any work.  A common example of residual income is the interest paid [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

Warren Buffett is the Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and consistently one of the three wealthiest men in the world. Less known is Berkshire’s Vice-Chairman, and longtime Buffett friend, Charlie Munger. Although less famous, Munger’s financial insights are on par with Buffett’s. Munger also shares Buffett’s folksy, down-to-earth personality.

Recently, the two of them sat down with Fox Business for an extended interview. I came across a segment in which the two of them address, among other issues, excessive executive compensation. Check it out!

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

This is the 100^th post since FinancialFellow.com was launched in October 2008. In light of the milestone I thought it fitting to call attention to my 5 favorite articles. Some articles offer my perspective on retirement savings, others provide suggestions on how to save, or earn, hundreds of dollars with minimal effort. Enjoy!

10% Annual Return is Unrealistic When discussing how much money you will have at retirement age many financial articles assume that you will attain an average annual return of around 10%. This assumption is misleading for two reasons…

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Written by J.P. Wicklein
     A few sites have popped up that connect shareholders of private companies with individuals seeking a piece of a company before it goes public.   Typically shareholders of private companies, often employees, are unable to cash out their shares until their employer goes public.  On the other side of the fence are [...]

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     I’m a big fan of Warren Buffett and an avid reader of his biographies.  I find the combination of his investing genius and folksy, down-to-earth personality fascinating.  Recently, I came across an interview he gave to Fox Business. In the interview Warren shares his insight on how to determine if a stock is worth buying. Check it out!

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Recently I received a couple questions from readers about how I invest my retirement funds. I thought it would be useful to share my answer with everyone. Don’t view my approach as advice on how to invest your retirement money. When investing you need to weigh factors such as your age and level of risk tolerance. As such, what’s best for me, may not work for you. Hopefully, though, reading about my approach will help you to consider some things when determining how to allocate your retirement dollars. Here’s how my retirement asset allocation shakes out:

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     With major stock market indexes at their lowest levels in over a decade now may be a good time to increase your exposure to stocks. If you’re a long term investor, you may find yourself deciding between an actively managed mutual fund and a passively managed index fund. (Index funds are passive investments because their managers don’t buy and sell stocks in an attempt to earn more than the return of the index, whereas managers of actively managed mutual funds attempt to beat the return of the index.)

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Written by J.P. Wicklein

     If you’re considering switching online stock brokers TradeKing may be worth a look.  Last month TradeKing announced that they will refund any transfer fees charged by your current broker up to $150. Here’s a closer look at how TradeKing stacks up:

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