Blog

At Plancorp, we don’t wait for you to ask the right questions.
We take the initiative to offer insights and guidance — real enlightenment for real life.

Asset Location Strategies

Everyone is thrilled that tax season is behind us. Now it’s time to focus on future tax bills. Read more…

Chris Kerckhoff, President, Discusses Advanced Estate Planning Techniques

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Jeff Buckner, Founder, Explains the Plancorp Philosophy

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Defining Risk

We frequently say that risk and return are related, but many people don’t understand exactly what we mean by the word “risk.” Read more…

Evaluating Cash

“Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value.” Read more…

Valuations and Return Expectations

Valuation – the price you pay for earnings, assets minus liabilities, cash flow, etc – is one of the best indicators of future returns. In general, we experience lower returns when valuations are high (i.e. stocks are more expensive), and higher returns when valuations are low (stocks are cheaper). Read more…

Charitable Giving: A Win-Win for Everyone Involved

Donating appreciated securities to charity makes much more sense than first selling the security, paying the taxes and then donating the remaining proceeds to the charity. As the donor, you save money on taxes and receive the full benefit of the tax deduction—and the charity receives the full value Read more…

Avoid Hidden Investment Costs

We never cease to be amazed at what little time is spent by the typical investor trying to get a handle on what his or her investing costs are. It’s amazing because, aside from the fact that costs can have a major impact on portfolio returns, they are still the only thing that we, as investors, Read more…

Value Investing vs. Growth Investing: What’s the Difference?

If you've been considering investing or expanding your portfolio, you've likely come to a fork in the road: you can either take the value investing or growth investing route. These are the two main types of stocks, primarily chosen based on investing style. Although you'll find that people often Read more…

Growth of $1.00

The data below, which shows the growth of $1.00 in various asset classes (listed from least risky to most risky), reinforces rather dramatically the fact that the best returns in the stock market do indeed come from owning the riskier parts of the market. Using this type of data to determine the Read more…