Personal Investment Center

  • Automatic Enrollment in your employer 401k is no guarantee
    Posted: 8/1/2008 - Ron Froeschle
    Automatic enrollment has become an increasingly popular option for employers looking to boost participation rates in their retirement plans. This may be beneficial for employees who have put off enrolling in their employer’s 401(k) plan, but it can provide a false sense of security that they’re prepared for retirement. This article explores what employees should know about automatic enrollment.
  • All in the blended family
    Posted: 4/22/2008 - Avis Polk
    People who have divorced and remarried and have children from two or more marriages are part of a growing number of families known as blended families. These family members may wish to pass their wealth on to their biological children but also provide for their current spouse. This article discusses strategies to ensure that assets are properly distributed in a blended family.
  • Diversifying your bond portfolio with laddering
    Posted: 3/15/2008 - Diana Sponseller
    Diversification isn’t just for stock investors. Bond investors should avoid putting all of their eggs in a single basket, too. A bond ladder can be an effective way to reduce a person’s bond portfolio risk. This article explains how bond laddering can provide a consistent level of income while minimizing a portfolio’s overall interest rate risk.

Investment & Trust Services

  • Wearing your investment heart on your sleeve?
    Posted: 8/1/2008 - Dennis Wilson
    Emotions can cause otherwise rational investors to make bad financial decisions. But, as smart investors know, a key to generating successful long-term performance is to stay objective and keep feelings out of portfolio decisions. This article discusses when emotions do and don’t have a place in investing and provides tips for investing unemotionally.
  • When calculating returns, don’t forget about risk
    Posted: 5/1/2008 - Jim Probst
    An investor’s goal is to generate the best possible return while taking on the least amount of risk. Sophisticated investors rely on a variety of statistical measures to determine the risk level of their portfolios (or of the holdings in their portfolios). Three of the most widely used are beta, standard deviation and the Sharpe ratio. This article explains these risk measures.