"We've long felt that the only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune tellers look good," said the world’s most famous long-term investor, Warren Buffett. To his point, last year, the forecasters from banks, brokerage firms, mutual fund companies, and the...
financial planner
The Best Plan for Aging Well is Free
Aging is a funny thing. Not ha-ha funny, but more of a “Are you kidding me!?” kind of funny. For instance, I’ve got arthritis in my big toes (my BIG TOES, for crying out loud!). And why is hair falling out of my head but proliferating out of my nose and ears? In a...
Stage your own ‘Operation Christmas Clean-up’ to prepare financially for 2024
Last week, we began decorating our home for the holidays. As we retrieved and unpacked boxes of ornaments and garland and lights, we began to explore everything else that was in storage. The project morphed into a year-end house cleaning. “Operation Christmas...
More Often Than Not Diversification Is an Investor’s Friend
I recently read an opinion piece that was lambasting diversification as “diworsification” (a play on words borrowed from legendary Fidelity stock manager Peter Lynch). Warren Buffett said "Diversification is protection against ignorance. It makes little sense if you...
The Media We Follow Affect Our Investment Behavior
Are you investing under the influence? That is, under the influence of the media? Last week, I attended a thought-provoking presentation titled "How Your Media Diet Informs Your Perspective on Markets, Investing, and Wealth," by Carson McLean, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL...
Now’s a Good Time to Add Bonds to Your Portfolio
For the last several years, with short-term interest rates close to zero, bonds have been the Rodney Dangerfield of the investment world: “I get no respect!” However, since March 2022, the Federal Reserve has lifted interest rates 11 times. This hit bond prices on the...
When to be a Contrarian Investor
As an investor, do you follow the crowd or march to your own beat? If more the latter, you might be a contrarian: “A person who opposes or rejects popular opinion.” When is it appropriate to be a contrarian investor? When markets are experiencing extreme highs or...
Good News: Inflation is Down, the S&P 500 is Up, and Humans are Resilient
You can find good news, if you look for it. On the other hand, bad news is easy to find: war, inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic. Bad news is typically unexpected. Financially, bad news is often cyclical. Periods of economic growth are followed by recession. Stock...
Time to Grab an Umbrella Insurance Policy?
When your local weather forecaster tells you that it's going to rain, what do you do? That's easy--you reach for your umbrella. So why not purchase an umbrella that can protect you in stormy financial weather? Umbrella liability insurance (ULI) can do just that. By...
Don’t Believe Everything You Hear About Money
When it comes to money, some people believe ridiculous things. Where do we get these money beliefs? Usually from family or society. Here are some examples: “Money can’t buy happiness.” To a degree, sure it can. While money can’t buy a feeling, having money can create...