Net Worth Advisory Group

A new e-book is available for download at no cost. Each chapter of the e-book describes a misunderstood financial topic. View the table of contents and determine which subjects you would like more information on.

A call option gives an investor the right to buy 100 shares of a particular security at a predetermined price before a set deadline. A put options gives an investor the right to sell 100 shares of a security at a set price before a set deadline.

Traditionally, a hedge is an investment that minimizes the risk associated with another investment. The hedge is designed to increase in value when the value of the original investment declines. Recently, the phrase “hedge fund” took new meaning.

Load investments are frequently sold by stockbrokers, insurance agents, and annuity salesmen. These investments subtract a sales charge from the dollars invested in order to compensate the individual who sold the product.

Survey results indicate 76% of Americans do not know the difference between a broker/dealer and a Registered Investment Advisor.

Fee only financial planners never accept commissions or compensation from the products they recommend. Fee based financial planners have the ability to collect fees from their clients, but can also collect commissions from the products they sell.

Flipping through the local paper, I noticed a standard advertisement from a “financial planning” firm. We’re seeing more and more of these advertisements that are designed and written to appear as an actual article of the publication.

If your looking for a positive effect to come from the recent recession, look at how people handle their personal credit. In May of 2009, there was a total of $928 billion of revolving debt outstanding. That number is down from $960 billion in 2008.

The Office of Management and Budget revised its May deficit projections to forecast a record $1.6 trillion deficit for the fiscal year ending September 30. Worse, the White House forecast $9 trillion in additional debt over the next decade.

Lon Jefferies, an independent fee only financial planner at Net Worth Advisory Group in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been named an contributing author by FiLife.com, which is published in partnership with the Wall Street Journal.