the staff of Modera Wealth Management

Articles by the staff of Modera Wealth Management

The economy performed solidly in the first quarter and early quarterly earnings results have been better-than-expected. Even in more optimistic times such as these, however, it's critical to make sure that your portfolio has a clear investment strategy and is adequately diversified. Individual investors may also want to take a closer look at alternative assets to protect the downside during times of extreme volatility.

It's undeniable that the events unfolding in Japan in the aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami are a tragedy affecting millions of people. It is less clear what economic impact will be. Some think rebuilding efforts could start a long-awaited expansion of the Japanese economy. In the meantime, individual investors should check their international stock and bond holdings to better understand their exposure to Japan.

Many financial advisory firms promote "client based" services, a misleading term that attempts to appeal to investors, when in reality the firms are acting in the clients' best interests one minute and in their own the next. That's why it's so important for the SEC to use its authority to place broker-dealers who provide investment advice under a fiduciary standard of care.

As the New Year approaches, it's more important than ever to monitor the debate over federal tax policy, be proactive in developing tax and investment strategies that are suited for today's changing tax environment, and work with professional advisors to ensure you don't pay more taxes than you should.

The question on every investor's mind: Is gold expensive or is it cheap? In other words, will gold prices move up from here, or is the run in gold over? Before we get to a possible answer, it's important to first understand what an investment in gold really is.

The S&P 500 posted its first negative "named" decade ever from 2000 to 2009. That means, if you invested $1 in the S&P 500 at the beginning of '00, you would have had 91 cents at the end of '09. So, were the 2000s the "lost decade" for investors? Not for all -- investors who maintained diversified portfolios actually fared much better.

After the stock market's strong end to 2009, and its initial gains earlier this year, fear and uncertainty is gripping investors once again. As usual, many are turning to financial experts for insight on when the carnage might end. But as Tom shows, these forecasts often turn out to be dead wrong.

My advice to investors is to think holistically about your portfolio. In other words, you don't own stocks in a vacuum. You own them in the context of your overall portfolio. Take a look at your collection of stocks and/or mutual funds and examine how they interact. If they all move in the same direction, your portfolio is not as diversified as it should be. That is true for all of your asset classes, not just stocks.

The larger and more complicated the estate, the greater the challenge in developing an encompassing plan to maximize the transfer of wealth to heirs. So, over the next few months, keep an eye on what Congress is doing with regard to federal estate tax law.

Even after setting a target portfolio mix, it's easy to veer off course. Over time, market moves alter your actual mix and if left unchecked, can have negative impacts on your returns. For example, poor rebalancing practices between 1995 and 2002 could have shaved 10% off of your portfolio's value.

How much life insurance you need is a function of many factors including your liability (not just debt but also protecting loved ones), your earnings, your other assets, and your time horizon.

Wealth management integrates comprehensive financial planning with customized portfolio management in an all-encompassing service to accomplish the long-term financial goals of high net worth individuals and their families, charitable foundations, and trusts.