I’m leaving my previous employer, and that means I need to decide what to do with my employer-managed retirement plan. Should I roll my 401(k) into an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). If so, how do I make that transition, and what do I do with the funds? Rolling over into an IRA is a great idea. A lot of retirement plans are obviously locked into an employer 401(k) plan. Unfortunately, as an employee of that business, you're restricted with what you can do with those fund

Should investors pay more attention to macro-economic trends or to individual company characteristics when making investment decisions? I am a bottom-up investor, because I think that approach is more actionable than the reverse. First, let’s define what we’re talking about here. Simply stated, a macro, or top-down, investor is one who's very driven by what's happening with the broader economy. A bottom-up investor is one who's more focused on doing individual company researc

Where do principles, ethics, and personal values fit into ‘value investing’? If I’m concerned about sustainability, corporate responsibility, or support for specific causes – or if I just want to make sure my investments are doing more good in the world than just making me money – how should that affect my investment decisions? In general, I agree that it doesn't feel good to make money through an ethically questionable investment. To use an example that may be a little contr