Okay, sure, there’s the old adage: age is just a…..well, you know where it’s going.

That said, what’s the ideal age to pluck down cash on an annuity?

How about this for a little calculus: the age at which you invest in an annuity, coupled with your life expectancy, determines how much money you pocket from this monthly income over the course of your life, according to annuity.org. Your personal lifestyle, financial position and goals pinpoint the ideal age to invest in an annuity.

“It really kind of depends on the annuity investor, but I’d say that sweet spot is anywhere from 45 to 70 years old,” Joe Liekweg, a licensed agent at Insuractive told Annuity.org.

Most financial advisors are on the same page: 70-75 is the idyllic age to buy a fixed income annuity to get the biggest bang out of your payments while sidestepping tying an overabundance of your savings into the annuity, according to entrepreneur.com

According to annuity.org, among questions to bear in mind prior to purchasing an annuity:

1. When Will You Need the Money?
2. How Much Will It Cost?
3. What’s Your Life Expectancy?
4. What Are Your Risks?
5. Will the Annuity Work Well With Your Other Income?

Most investors would rather go to the dentist than take a look at their portfolios this year. 2022 has been a tough year for investors with both the equity and the fixed-income markets experiencing large drawdowns. Unless you’ve been all in on commodities this year, your portfolio has likely taken a hit.

This has been especially true for investors with large exposure to technology stocks. The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which tracks the technology sector, is down 28% through October 21st. Out of the eleven SPDR Sector ETFs, only the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLC) are down more.

But who could blame an investor for a large technology allocation, especially with the way tech stocks had been performing over the last five years? Even during the last major selloff at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the technology sector held up better than most sectors. However, this year, tech stocks have been anything but strong performers.

It’s not just technology either, all sector leadership has changed considerably over the past twelve months. At the end of the third quarter last year, consumer cyclicals, technology, and financials, ranked first, second, and third in the DALI sector rankings, while utilities, energy, and consumer staples ranked in the bottom three.

Fast forward to the third quarter this year, and energy, consumer staples, and utilities held the top spots, while technology, consumer cyclicals, and financials ranked in the eighth, tenth, and fourth spots.

Looking at the period between September 30, 2021, and September 30, 2022, a hypothetical equal-weighted portfolio consisting of the top sectors in Q3 2021, the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY), and the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) would have lost 20.06%, underperforming the S&P 500 by almost 3.5%.

But an equal-weighted portfolio made up of the top sectors in Q3 2022, including the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) would have gained 12.58% over the same period, outperforming the S&P 500 by more than 29% and the previous portfolio by 30%.

That hypothetical difference of 30% reflects the cost of assuming that top sectors will remain at the top consistently. If instead, an investor followed a relative strength model and rotated with the market leaders, he or she would have likely been able to avoid those losses.

2022 is also notable as there is a nearly 80% year-to-date differential between the top-performing sector, the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), and the bottom-performing sector, the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLC), indicating that there is, even more, to be gained this year by picking the top sector and avoiding the worst.

The change in leadership and the large differential this year provides a useful reminder that long-term sector trends such as technology can change quickly and investors would benefit from the use of relative strength.

Tap into DALI sector rankings and access more investing tools with a 30 day free trial of Nasdaq Dorsey Wright’s Research Platform.

Due to their difficult to resist growth potential, many investors rock on small cap stocks – less than $1 billion market cap, according to talkmarkets.com.

Thing is, because of their volatility, which translates into factors such as a stepped up risk of bankruptcy, the stocks are surrounded by less than favorable sentiment. While a valid point of view, the perspective, seemingly, is at least a tad overblown. Over the long run, numerous small caps hit pay dirt.

That said, due to sometimes daunting wild swings in pricing, like a bad date, compatibility among  conservative investors and small caps might be zilch. Some apps, y’know…

Meantime, what do factors such as the Ukraine war, escalating oil prices and interest rates sending U.S. equity markets into the blender this year add up to? Why, greater volatility, of course.

And compared to their large cap counterparts, there’s this, well, thing, about U.S. small stocks compared to their large cap counterparts: greater risk, according to oakfunds.com. While it might seem somewhat, well, illogical to propose ratcheting up the allocation of small cap stocks into your portfolio, it might serve as a buffer against these tumultuous times and offset harrowing times that could be linked with large cap stocks. 

Direct indexing: you’re on.

While ETFs still have their place, the benefits of direct indexing are more than finding traction, according to Finance.Yahoo. 

Want to create a portfolio up to the task of performing on a par with – or exceeding the performance – of the popular S&P 500 index? Direct indexing’s all over it.

Index funds and ETFs are well and good, but direct indexing also means greater control over fund holding and the potential to outperform, according to Schwab. 

Spurred by technological strides that induced investment minimums south, direct indexing – once limited to institutional and high net worth investors – now can sit comfortably in the backyard of a wider swath of investors.

The latest wave of innovation and direct indexing are going hand in hand. Those advances include commission free trading and traditional shares, yielding greater alternatives and control to investors.

"Allowing for personalization makes direct indexing a great fit for those who generally like low-cost passive strategies but are also looking to potentially outperform the index on both before-tax and after-tax basis, or have more flexibility in terms of what they own," said Nitin Barve, CFA, director of Portfolio Analysis and Advice Tools & Policy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

According to a recent survey by Broadridge Financial Solutions, 67% of financial advisers are using alternative investments such as real estate investment trusts and private funds, compared to 59% in a previous survey taken earlier in the year. Of the 400 advisors surveyed by Broadridge, more than half said they plan to increase the use of alternatives over the next two years over traditional assets such as stocks and bonds. However, the advisers also noted their disappointment in the available offerings, with just 27% saying they are very satisfied with the options available from asset managers. Among the issues leading to this disappointment are too few choices, too much paperwork, and compliance and regulatory concerns. As per the reason for the increased interest in alternatives, advisers cited diversification, followed by non-correlation with equities. According to the survey, the alternatives that advisors were most interested in were REITs, commodities, private equity, hedge funds, and private debt.

Finsum: With investors concerned over steep portfolio losses, advisors are showing an increased interest in alternatives such as REITs, commodities, private equity, hedge funds, and private debt.

American Century Investments recently launched its newest active ETF, the American Century Short Duration Strategic Income ETF (SDSI). The fund, which now trades on the NASDAQ, will seek to generate attractive yield by investing across multiple fixed-income market segments that maintain a short-duration focus. The fund invests in both investment-grade and high-yield, non-money market debt securities. This could include corporate bonds and notes, government securities, and securities backed by mortgages or other assets. SDSI is a transparent active ETF with an expense ratio of 0.32%. The fund management team includes Jason Greenblath, Charles Tan, Jeffrey Houston, CFA, and Peter Van Gelderen. Ed Rosenberg, American Century's head of ETFs, noted that "SDSI expands our existing Short Duration Strategic Income capabilities to an actively managed ETF. The Short Duration Strategic Income ETF seeks to complement an investor's core bond holdings with high current income, broad diversification, and the potential to mitigate the impact of rising rates."

Finsum: American Century continues to build up its active ETF lineup with the addition of the American Century Short Duration Strategic Income ETF.

With yields rising as the Fed pursues its hawkish monetary policy, investors are piling billions into ETFs that track both the short- and long-term treasury market. For example, $13 billion has been added to the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) this year, a product that now offers some of the most attractive yields in over a decade, while having very little interest-rate risk. On the other end of the yield curve, investors have flooded a similar amount into the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), which has experienced historic losses due to the Fed’s rate hikes. TLT has seen more new inflows than any other fixed-income ETF this year. However, the reasons for these inflows likely differ between the two. Investors seeking yield can now find that in a short-term treasury ETF like BIL, while investors that believe the Fed will slow down rate hikes, or even cut rates in the future, will benefit from the high duration that a long-term bond ETF such as TLT could provide. The steep losses in the market this year have also driven defensive investors into cash-like instruments such as BIL.

Finsum:Investors looking for yield and safety are piling into short treasury ETFs, while investors seeking high duration are flooding into long-term bond ETFs.

Whirl. Wind. Of late, ESGs has been in the middle of the swirl, according to Canada.constructionconnect.com. In light of the trio of culprits: the growth of inflation and interest rates, not to mention the invasion of Ukraine – all of which are reverberating across the entire world, it probably hardly rates as breaking news that climate change isn’t exactly dominating headlines. 

Still, though, construction project designers, owners and builders must keep their noses to the proverbial grindstone. That means developing strong Environmental Social Governance policies and making sure that embedded in the corporate culture are verification, compliance and reporting.

At the same time, it’s also important to address the “Social” and “Governance” portions, Conor Chill of MLT Aikins in Calgary told the Daily Commercial News.

When it comes down to it, ESGs are one more manifestation of the globalist movement, according to protecttheharvest.com.

“‘Stakeholder capitalism,’ a model I first proposed a half-century ago, positions private corporations as trustees of society, and is clearly the best response to today’s social and environmental challenges,” World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab wrote in 2019. “We should seize this moment to ensure that stakeholder capitalism remains the new dominant model."

Small-cap stocks appear to be having their moment this year outperforming their large-cap peers. The S&P 600 small-cap index is currently on pace to outperform the S&P 500 for the first time since 2016. One reason for their outperformance is a strong U.S. dollar. This is due to the negative effect that a strong dollar has on the profits of multinational companies. A strong dollar harms U.S. companies that sell goods overseas by making them less affordable. Smaller companies, on the other hand, are more insulated from adverse currency effects as most of their business is done stateside. For instance, companies in the S&P 600 index generate only 20% of their revenue outside the U.S, while companies in the S&P 500 generate 40% of their sales abroad. This had led to some of the largest companies in the U.S warning of currency risks in their latest earnings calls. In addition to a strong dollar, small caps are also benefitting from better valuations. According to FactSet, the S&P 600 is trading at 10.8 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, which is well below the S&P 500’s forward price/earnings ratio of 15.3.

Finsum: Small-cap stocks are outperforming large-cap stocks this year due to a strong U.S. dollar and more attractive valuations.

See the badge, mister? Shiny, huh? Smudges? Please.

Yep; the sheriff’s in town. At the recent 2022 PLANADVISER National Conference, the ongoing enforcement of the Regulation Best Interest package was a hot topic among SEC speakers, according to -planadvisder.com. The package now is fully enforced. But the subject had plenty of company; other SEC regulatory efforts -- including proposed regulations concerning money market funds, ESG investments and cybersecurity – also were addressed.

The SEC’s updated interpretation of the fiduciary duty as prescribed by the Investment Advisers Act was in total effect as well.

Now, when the law speaks, of course, listening up’s highly recommended. Here, for instance: upon passing a recommendation to a retail customer, brokerage professionals are required to act in a retail customer’s best interest. Putting their own financial or other interest ahead of the retail customer’s interests? Yep: a no no for those professionals.

For more than the past year, Reg. Bi and Form CRS compliance have been in the crosshairs of FINRA and the SEC. That included the maiden SEC Reg. Bi settlement, which occurred in June, according to goodwinlaw.com.