Investment Choices Archives

278 Filing Made Easy – Advantages Of A Smart Approach

Filing a 278 financial disclosure form is an annual time-consuming and onerous task for most federal employees and military personnel often in positions of significant responsibility or highly compensated ones.

One must gather all the information to be filed, complete the form and its four schedules, and often revise it upon review by agency attorneys and/or ethics officials. At ClearLogic Financial, we manage all of our client’s financial assets under one umbrella reporting system and can run a single report to list almost all the items required on the 278. ClearLogic also uses a sophisticated investment approach to eliminate hundreds of potential conflicts of interest, thereby streamlining the listing of assets.

As part of our service to handle “all things financial” for our clients, ClearLogic prepares 278 forms for each of our federal and military clients. We consider it part of our professional role to make all financial matters easy for our clients.

March 7, 2022
Articles for Federal Professionals, Federal, Federal Employees, Financial Disclosures, Investment Choices

Photos of article "What feds need to know"

What Feds Need To Know About Financial Disclosures And Investing For Retirement

The Office of Government Ethics requires federal employees to annually submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (Form 450) each year before February 15.

Federal News Network sat down with Shawn Steel, a certified financial planner with ClearLogic Financial, to learn how this can affect federal employees’ retirement plans and what they need to consider when investing.

February 4, 2022
ClearLogic in the Press, Federal Employees, Federal Retirees, Financial Planning, Investment Choices, Retirement Timing

A Little Apathy Might Be Good For Your Long-Term Investment Returns

We often (maybe too often) beat the drums about staying the course and thinking long-term. We recommend this article; in which, Barry Ritholtz eloquently justifies several of ClearLogic’s Investment Principles regarding long-term thinking.

Here are a few of our favorite quotes from the article:

“investors spend too much time worrying about risks that are either statistically unlikely or,
conversely, the kind of risk that ends up being good for their portfolios over the long haul.”
“over the past century, U.S. stocks have returned about 10 times what Treasurys have,
although they also experienced numerous massive selloffs over that time”
“Politics and investing don’t mix…How does knowing the political party of a president impact
a portfolio if a portfolio will outlast the administration? People who make decisions out
of fear or politics miss out.”

There will be market corrections, some significant. (This why at ClearLogic we prepare for them in our clients’ portfolios and financial plans and work with our clients so that they are prepared for them not just financially, but also mentally and emotionally.)

November 7, 2017
Financial Planning, Investment Choices, Planning, Retirement, Saving Approaches

Quarterly Market Review: 2017-Q2

Global stock markets again rose during the second quarter of 2017. Additionally, both US and international bond markets were up, making the second quarter of 2017 positive across the board. Last quarter, we noted that international stock markets outperformed US stock markets, reversing a trend we had seen over the past few years. The reversal continued this quarter with international stocks returning about double what the US stock market returned.

Of ClearLogic’s 10 Investment Principles for long-term conservative growth, most at play this quarter were “look beyond the headings”, “practice smart diversification”, and “let markets work for you”.

July 15, 2017
Financial Planning, Investment Choices, Market Reviews, Saving Approaches

Quarterly Market Review: 2017-Q1

Global stock markets rose sharply in the first quarter of 2017. Over the past few years, US stock markets have outperformed international stock markets, but this quarter reversed that trend. Emerging market stocks in Q1 saw returns that were double that of the US markets, while international developed stocks outperformed US stocks as well. Only international bonds suffered negative returns in the first quarter.

Of ClearLogic’s 10 Investment Principles for long-term conservative growth, most at play this quarter were “avoid market timing”, “resist chasing past performance”, and “practice smart diversification”.

April 15, 2017
Financial Planning, Investment Choices, Market Reviews, Saving Approaches

ClearLogic Investment Principles

ClearLogic Financial’s investment approach is grounded in decades of academic research. ClearLogic follows a set of cautious investment principles. These principles comprise five things to pursue and five things to avoid. ClearLogic’s discipline focuses on consistent long-term growth, not on short term gains.

December 15, 2016
Financial Planning, Investment Choices, Saving Approaches

Cost Control – An Investor’s Greatest Investment

One of the most effective ways to enhance your wealth is by aggressively eliminating unnecessary investment costs.

There are various fees associated with investing, some of which are more transparent (management costs, trading costs, and advisor fees) while others are more hidden (trading activity, tax implications, and markups/markdowns). It is important to take charge of these costs, which starts with being aware of what they are.

Focusing on cost-effective investments and investment habits is key. (ClearLogic compares costs on Morningstar, conducts due diligence on fund manager performance and client-care metrics, assesses current academic insights, and maintains tax-efficient portfolios.)

September 15, 2016
Investment Choices, Tax Planning

3 Essential Ideas For Building Sustainable Wealth

How you choose to invest impacts your financial plan and making wise decisions can lead to sustainable wealth.

Three essential ideas are:

Understand the evidence – rely on sophisticated evidence (the data) to make wise investing decisions (we don’t believe you can outguess the market)
Embrace market efficiencies – structure your portfolio to capture healthy expected returns (dimensions of higher expected returns, diversification, stock/bond mix)
Manage your behavior – a financial planner can help with a disciplined approach.

The bottom-line is to rely on evidence, market efficiencies, and a disciplined approach to capture market returns, instead of timing the market or trying to pick the next big stock. (ClearLogic uses such an approach to achieve disciplined, long-term, conservative growth for its clients.)

October 5, 2015
Investment Choices, Retirement

4 Rules To Making Sense Of Fixed Income

Bond investments are supposed to be our reliable safety net and income stream during troubled times, but bonds are experiencing uncertain times themselves. Many are asking about bond returns, the future of interest rates, and if we should make any changes to our portfolios.

While interest rates will likely rise at some point, we do not advise betting your life’s savings on outcomes that are yet to unfold. Rather, we recommend investing to a customized plan specific to your needs. Recall that while bonds are safer than stocks some fluctuation is still to be expected, so we focus on what we can control, including the types of bonds you own and how much.

While bond fluctuations and the future of interest rates may be unsettling, it is most important to design a plan specific to your goals and then stay the course. (ClearLogic designs such plans for its clients and guides clients through market fluctuations both financially and emotionally.)

July 5, 2015
Investment Choices, Retirement

Investment Choices

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