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| Advance client relations with educational,
informative and detailed FINRA reviewed sales ideas. These one-page investment
concept hand-outs serve as an effective resource that help facilitate ongoing
communication and strong relationships with clients. Partner with a third party
resource that investors respect and discover the benefits of Morningstar
Advisor Sales Ideas. Educate your clients, save time, focus on client
relationships, and enhance marketing efforts. |
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| December 2009 | A Penny Saved |
| Most people are aware of how important it is to save for retirement, and of how difficult it is to be able to retire comfortably. In recent years, both workers and retirees have expressed record low confidence over having sufficient savings to rely on in retirement. Perhaps the task of saving for retirement would be less daunting if investors could calculate exactly how much they needed to save as a percentage of their income. The table presents suggested savings rates for prospective retirees by age, gross income, and the amount already saved, assuming an 80% replacement of pre-retirement income. |
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| January 2010 | Reality Check |
| When looking at the performance of an investment, the reported return numbers usually measure total returns, which assume investors purchased and held the security for the entire time period analyzed. However, real returns to investors rarely match the reported total return numbers, which is why Morningstar developed investor returns to measure how a typical investor would perform over time. The image compares average investor returns for equity and fixed-income mutual funds to stock and bond market returns over the past 1, 3, 5 and 10 years, and demonstrates how investor returns can be drastically different from overall market performance. |
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| September 2009 | Helpful TIPS |
Inflation is normally a significant cause of concern for consumers and investors alike. Not only do rising prices put pressure on people's spending habits, but high inflation can also eat into investment returns. Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) may offer a cushion during inflationary periods. They are fixed-income investments whose coupon payments change with the inflation rate: If inflation rises, the interest payment increases, and if inflation drops, the interest payment decreases. The image shows the performance of TIPS for the years since 1989 in which inflation was higher than its long-term average.
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| October 2009 | X Games |
| Diversification is perhaps the simplest and most popular investment concept, but in times of severe economic trouble, it may appear to lose its effectiveness. During the recent financial and credit crises, investors saw their portfolios tumble and started to fear that diversification was dead. It is true that a widespread decline in the economy affected most asset classes, but diversification, far from being dead, may still offer protection against extreme losses. The image illustrates the percentage of mutual funds and stocks that lost more than 75% and the percentage of funds and stocks that lost more than the market in 2008. |
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