A few weeks ago, debt-burdened Greece reached a tentative bailout deal with creditors to save itself from economic collapse—at least for now.

With the deal, the country of 11 million has a lifeline for the next three years, and the threat of it leaving the euro has been at least temporarily defused.

But the Greek drama ended up hurting many U.S. investors. Or more precisely, it spurred them to inflict damage on their own investment portfolios. In the volatile weeks and months leading up to the bailout, countless investors made emotion-based decisions to buy or sell.

Many individuals and families seek out financial guidance as they accumulate wealth and their finances become more complex. Simply put, they want to be confident that they're stewarding their wealth wisely.

But is it possible to quantify the benefit of working with a good advisor? The answer, according to independent researchers, is yes. Morningstar has found that working with the right advisor can result in an additional 1.82% per year in additional retirement income.

The investing world is full of old saws, supposed rules of thumb for making a pile of money.

• “Buy the rumor, sell the news.”
• “Don’t fight the Fed.”
• “Sell in May and go away.”

This time of year, you may be seeing articles championing that last axiom. But as with many of these pat rules, its logic doesn’t survive close scrutiny.

Every investor has heard the disclaimer that past performance does not guarantee future results.

Nevertheless, a large percentage of investors have always ignored the fact that there is no correlation between past and future performance. For them, chasing past performance is the name of the game—and it’s a losing game.

Like walking down the street backwards, chasing past performance may work out temporarily, but it tends to end badly. It’s human nature, perhaps, to be drawn in by past performance. Investors plunk their money into last year’s top mutual fund. Or they pursue hot market sectors—such as the dot-coms in the late ‘90s and real estate several years later.

What's the biggest obstacle to the growth of your investments? If you're like many investors, you might point to factors like rising interest rates, recessions or conflict overseas.

But the truth is that the greatest impediment to investors' success is often their behavior. Good decisions translate into good investment results over time, while bad behavior can submarine your portfolio.

Successful investing isn't complicated. You determine your investment goals, create a well-diversified portfolio designed to achieve those goals, and do some minor tending over the years to keep your investments in balance.

Lower prices for oil and gas have given the typical American something to smile about in recent months. But experts are still debating whether cheap oil will be good for the economy and investors in the long run.

Here’s the background. Oil prices have dropped by as much as 60% in the past seven months amid a glut of supply and falling demand. After topping out at $115 per barrel in June, the price of a barrel of oil dropped to $45 early this year. Prices have rebounding in recent days but are expected to hover below $60 for the remainer of the year.

Consumers are loving the savings, of course. And many economists are enthusiastic as well: Falling oil prices have historically bolstered the economy, as consumers use the savings to buy extra goods and services.

We have made the decision to take our business to a higher level of control and flexibility to better serve our clients! We will have more control over costs for our clients, access to a broader range of investment choices and a greater level of flexibility in choosing our strategic partners. These are partners that can support us in more advanced planning tools, lower fee institutional quality investments, a variety of banking products, and improved access to technical applications, customized statements, a more robust user friendly web site, risk reduction strategies, and concierge services.

Relationships with our clients are our number one priority. We believe that by placing our client's best interests first, we will continue to strengthen these relationships. As we strive for consistent improvement, in an industry experiencing constant change, our ability to deliver exceptional personal service while using all the technical tools available is very challenging.