My wife and I play in a fantasy football league comprised of a handful of other couples in and around our neighborhood. This season something interesting happened. As the start of our season drew near, one of the couples in the league had to back out. With literally a couple of weeks left before the start of the season we were in a pinch as nine couples had to decide on one other couple to join the league. Dicey, at best.
Is A Market Downturn Coming?
Recently Jill & I attended a friend's birthday party. It was a Casino Night theme and of course fun was had by all. After all, we weren't playing with real money!
They had two table games that evening: blackjack and roulette. Seeing the roulette wheel reminded me of a visit I took to Atlantic City many years ago.
GAMBLER’S FALLACY
A friend and I were sitting in a lounge…
The Power of Compounding Interest and Inertia
I think we're all prone to inertia in some shape or fashion, be it financially or otherwise. Guilty as charged.
You wouldn't know it by looking at me but I've put on some weight this year. I don't watch my weight. I've always been thin and eat fairly well most of the time. And I've always been pretty active. Like most people, I go through phases of working out. Generally it's pretty regular and I'll take some time off here and there. This year has been a challenge for me…
What's All This Free Trade Talk?
Yesterday two very large financial institutions announced they would no longer charge "commissions" on any online exchange-listed stock, ETF (domestic and Canadian), and options trades for any investor on their platforms.
The cost associated with investing has been plummeting for years. First it was the robo-advisor firms pushing down costs for asset management. And lately, another financial…
Wits & Wagers
Last week we were on vacation at my in laws house. Close family friends joined us for the trip and a couple of nights were spent around the table competing in the board game called Wits & Wagers. We paired up into teams of two with each team consisting of an adult and a kid. If you know anything about our family, we trend toward the "more competitive" side of the ledger. It was an intense couple of nights. Well, about as intense as a game of Wits & Wagers can get!
Stay The Course
Jack Bogle passed away earlier this year. If you don't know who he is, no worries. You can read about him here. Basically, he was, is, and forever will be a legend in the investing world. He founded the mutual fund company, Vanguard. He also pioneered the index fund and impacted countless individual investors.
When it came to investing, Mr. Bogle had a famous quote: "stay the course." It was even the title of his book.
Simple, not easy.
But what if we don't have a course to begin with? How can we "stay the course" then?
Better Than Average
In one of my peer groups, a fun poll was posed to us and essentially it asked if our profession (financial advisors) would be more fun if we could reliably beat the market. I got a good chuckle out of it, because, obviously, who doesn't want to beat the market?!? You do. I do. And yes, it would certainly make client conversations a little easier. Maybe a lot. Lol.
But this question also got me thinking. Why are we so wrapped up with trying to beat the market?
11 Years Later...
On Friday, Jill & I will celebrate 11 years of marriage. Hard to believe it’s been 11 years. Seems like just yesterday I was smashing wedding cake in her face.
We've been through a heckuva lot in those 11 years. Obviously we had our gaggle of kids in a short period of time and, I imagine like many other married couples, we've dealt with our share of challenges, too.
To quote my father-in-law, it's been the best 10.5 years of my life! Haha.
How Much Risk Should I Take?
Ahhhhhh, risk and reward. Always the teeter totter of investment conversations. When it comes to investing, we all want to have our cake and eat it too. Meaning we want the maximum return - all the upside in the market. And we want nothing to do with the risk - when the markets go down. Who wouldn't want that?!
Unfortunately that's not how the markets work. In order for our money to grow…
Pop Quiz!
Remember way back when you were in school? Maybe middle school or high school? You'd walk into one of your classes and the teacher would announce "POP QUIZ TIME!"
I always imagine these words were uttered in sheer delight. Or in a sadistic manner. Or sometimes with an evil villain laugh following the phrase. Like, "POP QUIZ TIME!! Mwah-hah-hah-haaaaaaaa!!!"
And then, bum-bum-BUMMMM. A collective groan from the class.
Busted!
In my pre-kid life, I consumed ALL of college basketball. I knew about every team in the tournament and watched as many games as I could all season long. This year, I think I watched maybe two college basketball games from start to finish. I'd never even heard of Lipscomb.
So I'll let you in on how I picked my bracket this year, you know, if you want some expert advice:
What Are You Focusing On?
As humans I do not believe we are wired or preprogrammed to worry. I'm not sure when we pick up the "worry" trait, but it happens. And it's not when we're kids. Think about it.
Maybe you see it in your own kids. I know I see it in mine. Maybe they're doing something around the house, wrestling or running full speed MACH 2 around the living room - you know, just being completely crazy kids. Whatever it is, the ending is likely not going to be good. Think trip to the Emergency Room. As parents, it's our instinct to blurt out something to effect of…
The Ostrich Effect
I came up with this concept very early in my career after realizing a lot of people I was meeting with were ignoring their financial life. Turns out I wasn't the first one to think of the concept! In behavioral finance, the Ostrich Effect is an attempt made by investors to avoid negative financial information. And the term? It comes from the common legend that ostriches bury their heads in the sand to avoid danger.
This bias takes its name from…