Money-Spending Decisions, Made Once and for All
For more than a decade, my family and I have gone to Jackson Lake in Wyoming for what’s become our favorite summer vacation. Because the trip includes a boat, we make arrangements to rent a mooring for the boat so...
People Ignore 80% of What Their Adviser Tells Them. Here’s Why.
I’ve heard it estimated that out of all the financial and estate planning recommendations that advisers make, their clients ignore more than 80% of them. If there’s even a shred of truth in this stat, it represents a monumental failure...
Pogo Stick Retirement Planning For Younger Generations
Historically, retirement planning has been likened to a three-legged stool — consisting of a corporate pension, Social Security and personal savings. Baby boomers saw the pension fade from existence, leaving them to balance on retirement planning stilts. For younger generations, however, the retirement situation...
Ignore the Babble Masking as “Financial News”
You are besieged with a daily onslaught of what passes for “financial news.” Much of it is nonsense, self-serving and unreliable. Yet the sheer volume, and the clever way it is packaged and disseminated, may lead you to take action....
The Powerful Psychology Undermining Your Returns
There can be little dispute over the sad state of returns for many investors. My colleague at the BAM Alliance, Carl Richards, used Morningstar data to note this disturbing fact: The average U.S. stock mutual fund had a 10-year average...
Debunking Grantham’s Concerns
“For some months now, Jeremy Grantham, a respected market strategist with GMO, an institutional asset management company, has been railing about the efficient market hypothesis.” So began a June 6, 2009, New York Times article by Joe Nocera. He went...
Bogle May Be Right About ETFs
Vanguard Group founder John Bogle created the first index funds available to individual investors in 1976, and ever since then he’s been a tireless champion of their use. Given that passive ETFs can provide advantages—such as lower costs and greater...
