Category Archives for Investment Advice

When Diversification Isn’t a Free Lunch

Investment Advice

Diversification has been called the only free lunch in investing This claim is rooted in Markowitz’s work on modern portfolio theory, which showed that through diversification, combinations of assets

Misperceptions About Market Correction: Are You Prepared?

Investment Advice

If you enjoy fine literature, we recommend all of Warren Buffett’s annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters, dating back to 1965. While financial reports are rarely the stuff from which dreams are

Diversifying a Portfolio with Real Estate

Investment Advice

Real estate as a wealth generator is hardly a new idea. People owned the property long before the advent of stock exchanges and other capital markets. In more recent times, large corporations and institutions

Avoiding Financial Scams and Identity Theft Fraud

Financial Education & News Investment Advice Retirement Advice

Young or old, wealthy or poor, online or in person … Nobody is immune from financial scams and identity theft fraud. No matter who you are or how well-informed you may be, the bad guys are out there,

The Uncertainty Paradox and Planning

Investment Advice Retirement Advice

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.” — Voltaire “The market hates uncertainty” has been a common enough saying in recent years, but how logical is it?

Portfolio Management: A Rebalancing Act

Investment Advice

Global diversification gives investors a valuable tool for managing risk and volatility in portfolio management. But smart diversification has an important side effect. It requires maintenance. In a

If You Own 100 U.S. Companies Is Your Portfolio Properly Diversified?

Investment Advice

“Diversification is about the closest thing to a free lunch in capital markets, so you may as well get a huge helping of it.” – Ken French Equity markets have experienced a sharp upward

The Evolution of Financial Research

Investment Advice

The Profitability Premium and Financial Research Since the 1950s, there have been numerous breakthroughs in the field of financial economics that have benefited both society and investors. One early

What is the Purpose of Indexes and Index Funds? (Part III)

Investment Advice

Index Mechanics – Interesting Idiosyncrasies Market indexes. You read about them all the time, such as when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the Dow) topped 20,000 points in early 2017 … and then

What is the Purpose of Indexes and Index Funds? (Part II)

Investment Advice

A Few Points About Index Points As we covered in our last piece, indexes have their uses. They can roughly gauge the mood of a market and its participants. If you’ve got an investment strategy that’s

What is the Purpose of Indexes and Index Funds?

Investment Advice

This post, Indexes Defined, is the first in a series of four designed to give you a clearer understanding of indexes and index funds and their uses. Since nearly every media outlet on the planet reported

Investment Shock Absorbers

Investment Advice

Ever ridden in a car with worn-out shock absorbers? Every bump is jarring, every corner stomach-churning, and every red light an excuse to assume the brace position. Owning an undiversified portfolio can

Portfolio Diversity Creates the Most Beautiful Music

Investment Advice

As US stocks have outperformed developed ex US and emerging markets stocks over the last few years, some investors might consider reevaluating the benefits of investing outside the US. From January 1,

The Power of Markets

Investment Advice

The mundane pencil—and the ability to purchase it for a “trifling” sum—is the result of an extraordinary process driven by the knowledge of market participants and the power of market prices.

Parenting Your Wealth in Uncertain Markets

Investment Advice

In the face of political drama at home and abroad, it’s certainly been a summer for trying our patience, hasn’t it? For anyone who has ever been a parent or a child – that is, for everyone – there

Reflections on Real Estate Investing

Investment Advice

Just as the natural world around us comes from the elements found in the periodic table of elements, capital markets are made up of asset classes, broadly organized into stocks, bonds, and hard assets

Start a New Tradition: Family Wealth Planning Conversations

Investment Advice Retirement Advice

Whether it’s gathering for an annual reunion, recounting an anecdote about quirky Uncle Jim, or simply being there for one another during difficult times, family traditions are the comfort food that

What To Do in Lieu of Chasing Yield

Investment Advice

With a total-return approach, we typically want you to reserve your fixed income/bond investments for their primary purpose in life, which is to provide a stabilizing counterbalance to your equity/stock

Is It You Versus The Federal Reserve?

Investment Advice

Since December 2008, the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) has held the federal funds rate at zero percent, seeking to bolster an ailing economy in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Economists agree that