Guides
Practical, plain-English answers to the most common questions about investing with AI. Each guide is self-contained and tied to a concrete workflow inside Walnut.
Is Walnut safe? What happens if Walnut shuts down?
How Walnut protects your money: we never custody assets, never see broker credentials, never trade without your approval, and your positions stay at your broker no matter what happens to us.
Best AI investing app
What makes an AI investing app worth using, the features that actually matter, and how Walnut compares for thematic stock portfolios.
Best AI trading app
How AI trading apps work, what to look for, and how Walnut blends AI-driven research with real broker execution.
Using ChatGPT for investing
What ChatGPT can and can't do for stocks, and how to connect it to your real brokerage account so its answers reflect your actual portfolio.
How to invest with AI
A practical walkthrough of using AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to research stocks, build a portfolio, and track it, without spreadsheets.
How to make money in stocks using AI
What AI can and can't do for stock returns, and a realistic workflow for using AI to find ideas, size positions, and avoid common mistakes.
How to analyze a stock with AI
A repeatable framework: fundamentals, recent news, competitive position, valuation, and portfolio fit, all driven through an AI conversation.
How to analyze your portfolio with AI
How to use AI to understand what you actually own, concentration risk, theme exposure, and whether your real portfolio matches your stated thesis.
How to see how your stocks are doing with AI
A simple workflow for daily and weekly portfolio check-ins, ask AI for performance, comparisons, and what changed, in plain English.
What is thematic investing?
Thematic investing means building portfolios around ideas, AI infrastructure, aging populations, clean energy. Why it works and how AI makes it easier.
When to sell a stock
A framework for the hardest part of investing: when the thesis breaks, when a position gets too big, and when a stock lags the market. Plus how AI flags keep, trim, or exit.
How to rebalance your portfolio
What rebalancing means, how often to do it, and a step-by-step way to bring your holdings back to target weights without an outsized tax bill.
How does a Roth IRA work?
After-tax in, tax-free out. The five-year rule, why contributions can come out at any age, no required distributions, and where it beats a Traditional IRA.
How much can I contribute to a Roth IRA?
$7,500 for 2026, or $8,600 from age 50. How the limit is shared across all your IRAs, capped by earned income, and what to do if you over-contribute.
Roth IRA income limits
The 2026 phase-out runs $153,000 to $168,000 single and $242,000 to $252,000 joint. How the sliding scale works and the three routes if you are above it.
Roth IRA withdrawal rules
Contributions out first, tax free at any age. The two five-year clocks, the penalty exceptions, and why a Roth never forces a distribution.
How does a 401(k) work?
Deferral, not transfer. The employer match, vesting, the traditional versus Roth choice, and what happens to the balance when you leave a job.
How much can I contribute to a 401(k)?
$24,500 for 2026, with an $8,000 catch-up at 50 and $11,250 at ages 60 to 63. Why the employer match sits on top, and the two-job trap.
401(k) employer match rules
Common match formulas and what they actually pay, cliff versus graded vesting, and how front-loading contributions can quietly cost you the match.
401(k) withdrawal rules
The 10% early penalty and its exceptions, the rule of 55 and the rollover that destroys it, required distributions at 73, and the true cost of cashing out.
How does an HSA work?
The only account taxed nowhere: deductible in, untaxed while invested, tax free out for medical costs. Receipt banking, and what changes at 65.
How much can I contribute to an HSA?
$4,400 self-only and $8,750 family for 2026. Why employer contributions share your ceiling, how proration works, and the per-person catch-up.
HSA eligibility rules
The four conditions, the 2026 high-deductible plan thresholds, the coverage that quietly disqualifies you, and the Medicare six-month lookback.
HSA withdrawal rules
Qualified medical withdrawals are tax free at any age. The 20% penalty before 65, what actually counts as qualified, and deferred reimbursement.
How does a taxable brokerage account work?
No limits, no lockup, no penalties, in exchange for annual tax. Cost basis, reinvested dividends, and where it beats a retirement account.
When do you pay taxes on a brokerage account?
The four taxable events and the two that surprise people. Long-term versus short-term, fund distributions, the wash sale rule, and your 1099.
Do I pay taxes on dividends?
Qualified dividends are taxed at capital gains rates, ordinary dividends at your marginal rate. What decides which you have, why reinvesting changes nothing, and the foreign withholding trap inside an IRA.
How are long-term capital gains taxed?
0%, 15% or 20% for 2026. How the gain stacks on top of your ordinary income, gain harvesting in the 0% band, and the fund distribution that creates a gain you did not choose.
What is cost basis?
What you paid, including commissions and reinvested dividends. Lot selection methods, covered versus non-covered shares, and why inherited and transferred shares are usually wrong.
How are short-term capital gains taxed?
Ordinary income at your marginal rate, with no preferential treatment. What the holding period is worth, where short-term gains appear without you noticing, and when selling anyway is right.
Do you pay taxes on ETFs?
Why the creation and redemption mechanism avoids capital gains distributions, and the three structures taxed differently: physical commodity, futures-based and partnership ETFs.
How are mutual funds taxed?
Why you can owe tax on a fund that lost money, what buying a distribution means, and why turnover predicts your bill better than the expense ratio.
How are REITs taxed?
Most REIT dividends are ordinary income, not qualified. The three-way split of a distribution, the 20% deduction, and why REITs usually belong in a retirement account.
How are bonds taxed?
Interest is ordinary income. How corporate, Treasury and municipal differ, taxable-equivalent yield, premium and discount, and where bonds belong across your accounts.
How are municipal bonds taxed?
Federally exempt interest, the taxable-equivalent yield calculation, private activity bonds and AMT, and why munis should never sit in a retirement account.
When are RSUs taxed?
Taxed as ordinary income at vesting on the full value, whether or not you sell. Why 22% withholding is often too low, and the cost basis error that taxes you twice.
How is an ESPP taxed?
The discount is ordinary income and the rest capital gain. Qualifying versus disqualifying sales, the two clocks, and whether holding for the tax break is worth the risk.
What is tax-loss harvesting?
Realizing losses to offset gains and up to $3,000 of income a year. The carryforward, the wash sale constraint, and why it is mostly deferral rather than saving.
What is a wash sale?
The 61-day window, what counts as substantially identical, how dividend reinvestment triggers it by accident, and the IRA version that destroys the deduction permanently.
How is interest income taxed?
Ordinary income at your marginal rate, taxable when credited rather than withdrawn. How savings, CDs, Treasuries and money market funds differ, and the $10 threshold myth.
What is asset location?
Deciding which account holds which investment. Why bonds and REITs belong in sheltered accounts, why equities belong in a Roth, and the foreign withholding exception.
What makes an ETF tax-efficient?
The creation and redemption mechanism, in plain terms. How much difference it really makes, and the three kinds of ETF it does not help at all.
How to read a 1099-B
What each box means, why proceeds are not your gain, the three cases where cost basis is usually wrong, and why corrected forms arrive in March.
How is crypto taxed?
Digital assets are property, not currency, so swapping and spending are disposals. Mining and staking are ordinary income. Plus the 1099-DA reporting timetable and the unsettled wash sale question.
How are Treasury bills taxed?
Federally taxable, exempt from state and local tax. Why the discount is interest rather than a gain, how to compare a T-bill to a CD properly, and TIPS phantom income.
Qualified vs ordinary dividends
One is a subset of the other, not an addition. The issuer test, the 60-day holding period trap, and what the classification is actually worth.
How are foreign stocks taxed?
Withholding at source, the foreign tax credit that recovers it, and why that credit is worthless inside an IRA. Plus ADR fees, which are a cost rather than a tax.
How are options taxed?
Expiry, exercise and assignment produce three different outcomes. The 60/40 rule for index options, and how covered calls can cost you the qualified dividend rate.
When do you pay taxes on stock options?
ISOs and NSOs are taxed on opposite principles. The AMT adjustment at exercise, the two holding clocks, and the failure mode where tax exceeds what the shares end up worth.
Can AI beat the stock market?
No AI product has shown a durable edge, and 92.89% of active large-cap funds trailed the S&P 500 over 20 years. What AI changes is what you can read and check, not who wins against an index.
Can AI replace a financial advisor?
It replaces the analysis, not the accountability. What a fiduciary duty covers, what a percentage fee actually buys, and which decisions still need a person.
Can AI rebalance my portfolio?
Measuring drift and calculating the trades is the easy half. Whether an assistant can place them depends on your broker, and tax decides whether you should.
Can AI do my investment taxes?
It explains the rules and finds the errors, particularly cost basis and the wash sale your broker cannot see. Filing and liability stay with you.
Can AI find undervalued stocks?
Screening for cheap is solved and free. Deciding whether cheap means mispriced or means the market is right is the part that pays, and it happens in the filings.
Can AI predict a market crash?
No, and the CFTC says so directly. The answerable version is what a fall of a given size would do to your own positions.
Can AI manage my 401(k)?
It can read the menu, price the fees and check you are capturing the full match. Trading inside the plan belongs to the recordkeeper.
Are AI trading bots legit?
Some are ordinary automation, many are fraud, and the tells are visible before you pay: a promised return, custody of your money, and no registration anywhere.
Are robo-advisors safe?
Registered advisers, assets at a SIPC-member custodian, a fiduciary duty. The real risks are a questionnaire that misreads you and a fee you stopped seeing.
Are investing apps safe?
Three checks settle it: registration in BrokerCheck, SIPC membership, and who holds the assets. What is left is incentives, not safety.
Are fractional shares safe?
Real ownership, proportional dividends, covered like anything else. The catch is that they cannot be transferred to another broker, so switching means selling.
What is SIPC insurance?
$500,000 per customer including $250,000 of cash, if the brokerage fails. It does not protect against your investments falling in value.
What is an index fund?
Holds a published list instead of picking, which is why it costs under 0.10% and why 92.89% of active large-cap funds trailed the S&P 500 over 20 years.
What is a mutual fund?
Pooled money, one portfolio, priced once after the close. How it differs from an ETF, and the December distribution that taxes you on gains earned before you arrived.
What is a bond?
A loan with a schedule. Why the price falls when rates rise, why that does not matter if you hold to maturity, and why a bond fund is a different animal.
What is a REIT?
Must distribute at least 90% of taxable income, which explains both the high yields and why the dividends are ordinary income rather than qualified.
What is a P/E ratio?
What you pay for a dollar of profit. Trailing against forward, why cross-sector comparisons mislead, and why cyclicals look cheapest at the top.
What is market capitalization?
Price times shares outstanding. Why share price says nothing about size, and how cap weighting decides your position sizes for you.
What is dollar-cost averaging?
Fixed amount, fixed schedule, no timing decision. It is what a payroll contribution already does, and the benefit is behavioural rather than mathematical.
What is asset allocation?
The split between stocks, bonds and cash, which drives most of how a portfolio behaves. Counted across every account, not one at a time.
What is diversification?
Enough unrelated holdings that no single failure decides the outcome. The usual failure is owning many things that turn out to be the same thing.
What is rebalancing?
Selling what grew to buy what lagged, so risk stays where you set it. Plus the three ways to do it without a taxable sale.
What is compound interest?
Returns earning returns. Why time matters more than rate, why the last doubling is the big one, and how fees run the same machinery against you.
What is a bear market?
A broad index down 20% or more over at least two months, per the SEC. What it does to people who own things, and what is actually worth doing.
What is a bull market?
A rise of 20% or more over at least two months. Longer than bear markets historically, and the risk it creates is drift you never decided on.
What is a recession?
Dated by the NBER on depth, diffusion and duration. Two negative quarters is a rule of thumb, and the announcement always arrives too late to act on.
What is the yield curve?
Treasury yields across maturities, published daily. Why it normally slopes up, what inversion is saying, and why the lag makes it a poor trading signal.
How does a Traditional IRA work?
Pre-tax in, taxed out. Whether you get the deduction, what the pro-rata rule does to a conversion, and why required distributions start at 73.
How much can I contribute to a Traditional IRA?
$7,500 for 2026, or $8,600 from 50, shared with any Roth IRA and capped by earned income. Contributing and deducting are separate questions.
Traditional IRA deduction limits
$81,000 to $91,000 single and $129,000 to $149,000 joint for 2026, and none of it applies if neither spouse has a workplace plan.
Traditional IRA withdrawal rules
Ordinary income at any age, plus 10% before 59.5 unless an exception applies, and forced distributions from 73.
How does a Roth 401(k) work?
After-tax in, tax-free out, no income limit, $24,500 ceiling. The employer match still usually lands on the pre-tax side.
How much can I contribute to a Roth 401(k)?
$24,500 in 2026, $32,500 from 50 and $35,750 at ages 60 to 63, shared with traditional deferrals and separate from the $72,000 overall limit.
Roth 401(k) withdrawal rules
Age 59.5 and five years in the plan. Unlike a Roth IRA, contributions cannot be pulled out first: plan withdrawals come out prorated.
How does an FSA work?
Pre-tax medical money, the whole election available on day one, $3,400 for 2026, and a forfeiture rule that is the price of that access.
How much can I contribute to an FSA?
$3,400 for 2026 with up to $680 carryover. Per employee, so two working spouses get two, and a general-purpose FSA blocks HSA contributions.
FSA use-it-or-lose-it rules
Carryover of $680 or a grace period, never both, plus the separate claim deadline that quietly forfeits money on valid expenses.
How does a 529 plan work?
Tax-free growth for education, state deductions, the K-12 allowance now at $20,000 a year, and four ways out if the money is not needed.
How much can I contribute to a 529?
No federal annual limit. What binds is the $19,000 gift exclusion, the five-year election that front-loads $95,000, and each state's ceiling.
529 qualified expenses
Tuition, books, equipment, room and board within limits, apprenticeships, credentials, $10,000 of loans, and $20,000 a year of K-12 costs.
529 to Roth IRA rollover rules
$35,000 lifetime, trustee to trustee, 15-year-old account, capped annually by the Roth limit, and the beneficiary needs earned income.
How does a 403(b) work?
The 401(k) for schools, hospitals and nonprofits, with the same $24,500 limit, a 15-year service catch-up nothing else has, and an annuity menu worth reading.
How much can I contribute to a 403(b)?
$24,500 for 2026, plus a 15-year service catch-up of up to $3,000 a year, and the 457(b) whose limit does not overlap with it.
403(b) withdrawal rules
Ordinary income, 10% before 59.5 with exceptions, required distributions from 73, and surrender charges that come out of any amount you move.
How does a 457(b) work?
Deferred comp for public employees, with a limit that stacks on a 403(b) and no early withdrawal penalty once you leave. Governmental and non-governmental differ.
How much can I contribute to a 457(b)?
$24,500 for 2026, separate from any 403(b) or 401(k), plus a three-year catch-up that can double it before normal retirement age.
457(b) withdrawal rules
No 10% additional tax after separation, at any age. Rolling the balance to an IRA destroys that, which is the costliest mistake this account offers.
How does a SEP IRA work?
Employer-funded IRA for the self-employed, up to 25% of pay or $72,000, opened as late as October. The uniform percentage rule is what makes staff expensive.
How much can I contribute to a SEP IRA?
25% of compensation up to $72,000, though self-employed it is really 20% of adjusted net earnings. No catch-up exists.
SEP IRA eligibility rules
Age 21, three of five years, minimum pay. Any work in a year counts as a year, which catches employers who assume part-timers are excluded.
How does a SIMPLE IRA work?
$17,000 employee deferral with a mandatory employer contribution, immediate vesting, and a two-year rule that raises the early withdrawal tax to 25%.
How much can I contribute to a SIMPLE IRA?
$17,000 for 2026, or $18,100 in certain applicable plans, with catch-ups of $4,000 from 50 and $5,250 at ages 60 to 63.
SIMPLE IRA two-year rule
For two years from your first contribution, early withdrawals cost 25% instead of 10% and rollovers are restricted to another SIMPLE IRA.
How does a Solo 401(k) work?
You are employee and employer, so you contribute twice: $24,500 of deferral plus an employer share, up to $72,000 with catch-ups on top.
How much can I contribute to a Solo 401(k)?
$24,500 plus up to 25% of compensation, capped together at $72,000, with catch-ups sitting above the cap and a spouse able to double it.
Solo 401(k) eligibility
Owner-only, plus a spouse. Side income qualifies, hiring ends it, and owning a second business can drag its employees into the plan.
How does a margin account work?
Borrowing against your holdings, at interest, with the portfolio as collateral. The broker can sell what it likes, when it likes, without asking.
What is a margin call?
A demand to restore equity after prices fall. Meet it or the broker liquidates, and if the sale falls short you still owe the difference.
529 vs Roth IRA for education savings
The 529 has the room and the state deduction, the Roth has the flexibility, and since 2024 up to $35,000 can move between them.
Taxable account vs IRA
Sheltered growth against unrestricted access. Most people want both, in a specific order, with specific assets in each.
SEP IRA vs Solo 401(k)
The Solo wins on contribution room at any ordinary income, because of the flat deferral. The SEP wins on paperwork and on a deadline that runs to October.
SIMPLE IRA vs 401(k)
$24,500 against $17,000, discretionary matching against mandatory, and a two-year rule on one side against a vesting schedule on the other.
Traditional 401(k) vs Roth 401(k)
A deduction now against tax-free growth later, on one shared limit. Identical at equal rates, and rates are never equal.
HSA vs HRA
One letter apart, opposite ownership. The HSA is yours and invests; the HRA is the employer's and usually ends with the job.
457(b) vs 403(b)
Offered both, you can fund both: the limits do not overlap. And only one of them lets you withdraw before 59.5 without a penalty.
Backdoor Roth vs direct Roth contribution
Under the phase-out, contribute directly. Above it, the backdoor works, and the pro-rata rule decides whether it costs nothing or a great deal.
Rollover IRA vs leaving it in the old 401(k)
Choice and consolidation against institutional pricing, the rule of 55, creditor protection and a clean backdoor Roth.
How to open a Roth IRA
Fifteen minutes at a broker, then the step people miss: a contribution sits in cash until you invest it. Eligibility, deadlines and the fix if you earn too much.
How to open a Traditional IRA
The account is easy. Settle the deduction question and the traditional-versus-Roth choice first, and know what Form 8606 is for.
How to open a brokerage account
No eligibility test and no limit. Choose cash over margin, decide the ownership type deliberately, and set the cost basis method on day one.
How to open an HSA
Confirm the high-deductible plan, then open one anywhere. Payroll deduction saves payroll tax too, and most balances sit in cash when they should not.
How to open a 529 plan
Start with your own state's deduction, then choose the owner carefully, since that decides control and financial aid treatment.
How to open a Solo 401(k)
EIN, plan document, account, and a deferral election before the year ends. Check whether the provider accepts rollovers, which is why many people open one.
How to roll over a 401(k)
Open the receiving account first, ask for a direct rollover, and never let a cheque be made out to you. The 20% withholding trap is avoidable and common.
How to roll over a 401(k) to a new employer
Check the plan accepts rollovers, compare the fees, then move it directly. Consolidating into a plan keeps a backdoor Roth clean and preserves the rule of 55.
How to roll over a 403(b)
Same process as a 401(k), plus one question: what does the annuity contract charge to surrender, because that comes out of what moves.
How to transfer a brokerage account
Start at the new broker, ask for in kind, expect five to ten days. Fractional shares cannot move, which is where the surprise tax bill comes from.
How to transfer an IRA between providers
Trustee to trustee is unlimited and never taxed. The 60-day rollover is capped at one per twelve months and is the version that goes wrong.
How to change a 529 beneficiary
A form and no tax, if the new beneficiary is a qualifying family member. Skipping a generation triggers gift reporting, and the Roth clock is unresolved.
How to consolidate multiple 401(k)s
Find them, compare the fees, move them one at a time. Required distributions are calculated plan by plan, which is the practical reason to bother.
How to close a brokerage account
Transferring beats selling, because selling realises every gain at once. Download the statements and basis records before access ends.
How to move from a robo-advisor to self-directed investing
The transfer is easy; the fractional positions that must be liquidated are not. Often the better answer is to stop contributing rather than exit.
How much do I need to retire?
Start from spending, subtract Social Security and any pension, then size the portfolio against the gap. The multiple is the easy part; the spending estimate is not.
How much do I need to retire at 50?
A 40-year retirement, a decade before penalty-free access and 15 years before Medicare. Where the money sits matters more than at any other age.
How much do I need to retire at 55?
The rule of 55 opens your current employer's plan without the 10% penalty, and rolling it to an IRA on the way out destroys that.
How much do I need to retire at 60?
Access is no longer the problem at 59.5. What remains is five years of health cover, the claiming decision and the conversion window before 73.
How much do I need to retire at 65?
Medicare starts and the standard research finally fits the horizon. The open questions are claiming age, premium surcharges and long-term care.
How much do I need in an emergency fund?
Three to six months of essentials, decided by how replaceable your income is. In cash, because bad personal months arrive with bad market months.
How much do I need to start investing?
Almost nothing at most brokers. The real threshold is the employer match, high-interest debt and a starter emergency fund.
How much do I need for a house down payment?
Twenty percent is a convention, not a rule. Conventional goes to 3%, FHA to 3.5%, and closing costs are the line people forget.
When should I start investing?
After the match, the high-interest debt and a starter emergency fund. Not after the market looks safe, because it never says so in advance.
When should I rebalance my portfolio?
Annually on a date, or on a drift threshold. Both work. Deciding case by case in the moment is the version that fails.
When should I take Social Security?
Claiming early cuts it permanently; delaying to 70 raises it for life. For couples the higher earner's decision also sets the survivor benefit.
When should I do a Roth conversion?
In years when your rate is temporarily low: after retiring, before Social Security, before required distributions. Pay the tax from outside.
When should I harvest tax losses?
Whenever a taxable position is meaningfully underwater and you can hold the exposure without a wash sale. December is convention, not optimum.
What happens if you withdraw from a 401(k) early?
Income tax, 10% on top and 20% withheld at source. The compounding you give up is several times the tax.
What happens if the market crashes?
Prices fall and you own the same shares. The people permanently damaged are those forced to sell, which is a planning problem rather than a market one.
What happens if you over-contribute to an IRA?
6% a year for every year the excess stays. Removing it with its earnings before the filing deadline avoids the tax entirely.
What happens if your broker goes out of business?
Customer assets are segregated, so most failures produce a transfer rather than a loss. SIPC covers the shortfall up to $500,000.
What happens to your 401(k) when you leave a job?
Nothing automatic unless the balance is small. Four options, an accelerating loan, forfeited unvested money, and possibly the rule of 55.
What happens to your investments when you die?
Beneficiary forms override your will, taxable assets get a step-up in basis, and most non-spouse IRA heirs have ten years to empty the account.
How to read a 10-K
Four sections in order, then read this year against last year. The changes in the risk factors are what no headline carries.
How to read a balance sheet
Debt and when it comes due, cash against it, and how much of the asset side is goodwill rather than anything saleable.
How to read an earnings report
Guidance matters more than the quarter, and what a company chooses to exclude from adjusted figures is itself information.
How to read a fund prospectus
Objective, fee table, strategy and turnover. Four items decide almost everything, and the summary version has all of them.
How to read an ETF factsheet
The index, the expense ratio and the top ten with their combined weight. That last line reveals concentration a holding count hides.
How to read a stock chart
Period, scale, dividends and benchmark decide what the picture says before any interpretation begins.
How to read your brokerage statement
Cost basis, the cash sweep and the fees, before the performance figure, which frequently measures something other than you assume.
Do I need to report investment income?
Yes, and the IRS already has a copy. Reinvested dividends count, and a losing year still has to be reported to be usable.
Do I need to pay quarterly estimated taxes?
If withholding will not cover enough, yes. The safe harbour lets you pay against last year's known figure rather than guessing this year's.
Do I need a financial advisor?
For a simple portfolio, probably not. For irreversible decisions, an hourly or flat-fee adviser is frequently worth more than a percentage one.
Do I need to diversify?
It removes the risk you are not paid for. The usual failure is owning many things that turn out to be one thing.
Do I need to rebalance my portfolio?
If you chose an allocation and want to keep it, yes. It does not reliably raise returns, and that was never the argument.
Do I need to report crypto on my taxes?
Yes, and trading one coin for another is a disposal. There is a question on the front of Form 1040 either way.
Common Roth IRA mistakes
Money left in cash, contributions made while ineligible, and a backdoor conversion wrecked by the pro-rata rule.
Common 401(k) mistakes
Missing the full match, staying in the default fund, cashing out on a job change, and never reading the fee disclosure.
Common first-time investor mistakes
Waiting for a better moment, buying single stocks with a first balance, checking daily, and confusing a transfer with an investment.
Common retirement planning mistakes
Planning from a round number, ignoring healthcare before Medicare, claiming Social Security by default, and one tax treatment for everything.
Common investment tax mistakes
A wrong cost basis accepted, a cross-broker wash sale missed, a sale a week before the one-year mark, a fund bought before its distribution.
Common ETF investing mistakes
Four funds holding the same companies, a thematic fund mistaken for diversification, and leveraged products held longer than a day.
What is a fiduciary?
Legally required to act in your interest. Advisers owe it, brokers operate under a different standard, and which is which is public record.
How to check a financial advisor's background
Two free databases, ten minutes. The case that should stop you is not a complaint but an absence from both.
How much do financial advisors cost?
Commonly 1% of assets a year, on top of fund costs. The percentage model is priciest where it is least connected to the work.
How to research a company with AI
Point it at the filings, ask what changed since last year, and check every figure against the document it came from.
How to build a watchlist with AI
A reason, a trigger and a removal condition per entry. Without those it is a list of things you once felt positive about.
How to compare two stocks with AI
Fix the period, the metrics and the source first, or you get two summaries that sound comparable and are not.
How to check portfolio diversification with AI
Ask for the look-through: the largest underlying companies across every fund and account combined.
How to plan a rebalance with AI
Weights first, then the tax cost of closing the gap, then the trades. Reversing the first two is the common error.
How to screen for dividend stocks with AI
Screen on coverage and growth, not yield. The top of a yield screen is companies the market expects to cut.
How to track an investing theme with AI
Define what would prove it wrong before buying, then track that rather than the price of what you bought.
How to review your 401(k) with AI
Give it the fee disclosure and the fund menu. Most of the money in a workplace plan is decided by documents nobody reads.
How to set investment goals with AI
An amount, a date and an account. Without a date there is no allocation; without an account there is only an intention.
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