The Psychology of a Financial Advisor
When kids talk about what they want to be when they grow up, you’ll usually hear dreams of becoming firefighters, astronauts, or maybe even rock stars. “Financial planner” doesn’t often make the list. But if you ask the best advisors in the business today why they chose this career, you’ll hear something unexpected: they just […]
Financial Planning Isn’t Just About Tactics
When most people think about financial planning, they think about implementation tactics. Should I be in a Roth or a traditional IRA? Should I use a bond ladder or stick with a total return portfolio? How should I time Social Security? These are good questions, but they’re not the first questions you should be asking. […]
Should You Add Uncorrelated Assets to Your Retirement Portfolio?
When markets feel shaky or inflation dominates the headlines, it’s natural to start wondering whether you should branch out from the usual stocks and bonds. That’s when the term “uncorrelated assets” starts popping up. These are investments that tend to move independently from stocks and bonds, offering potential diversification benefits. But when it comes to […]
Bricks, Mortar, and Your Portfolio: How Real Estate Might Play a Role in Retirement Planning
When most people think about real estate, they picture a home or maybe that dream beach house. However, from an investment perspective, real estate can serve a different purpose in helping to diversify your portfolio and potentially smooth out the ride during retirement. So, how exactly can real estate fit into your financial picture? Let’s […]
Beyond the Public Markets: Evaluating the Role of Private Credit
Private credit has been gaining traction among investors looking to broaden their portfolios beyond traditional stocks and bonds. Once reserved for institutional investors and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, this asset class is now more accessible to a broader audience, thanks to evolving fund structures and emerging investment platforms. But what is private credit, and how does it […]
Home Sweet Home Bias: Overweighting US Stocks in Your Portfolio
Investing is deceptively simple. Until it’s not. As investors, we want to start with the market portfolio—that is, by definition, the most efficient portfolio. But we’ll also want to customize our investments to address our specific situation. For instance, the global bond market is substantially bigger than the global stock market, but most retirement-focused investors’ […]
How Often Should I Rebalance My Portfolio?
The market is going to drag your portfolio through every mud puddle it finds. It’s your job to pick your portfolio up, dust it off, and point it back in the right direction. Rebalancing brings your portfolio back into line, and ensures that you are taking the right amount of risk through time.
Lessons For The Next Crisis
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.” I gotta say, we agree with Darth Vadar on this one. When times of crisis arise, people naturally have a range of emotions, including fear, panic, and mistrust. This can lead to behaviors that directly contradict long-term saving strategies. It’s important to take a moment, and remember your […]
The Coronavirus and Your Investments
The Coronavirus is scary. When it’s possible to make reasonable comparisons with the Spanish Flu, that should make you sit up and take notice. Aside from the reasonable precautions that you should be taking, what should you be doing to protect your investments from the disruptions that the Coronavirus may cause? We’ve already seen significant […]
Can TIPS Help You?
Inflation is one of the most pernicious risks facing retirees. While there are a lot of ways to manage inflation risk, TIPS, or Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, are one of the few investment options that directly hedge against inflation risk. They aren’t perfect, and there are certainly some things to consider when you use them […]
