Many investors find themselves trapped in a perplexing cycle of underperformance and missed expectations from their investments. Choosing your Investment Philosophy is the missing link that can offer long-term peace of mind. Approaching investing without an cohesive Investment Philosophy is like building a house without a blue print. Most people don’t realize that there are […]
The Financial Yes Man/Woman Dilemma
While experts have long counseled against using financial planners who push products and receive commissions (given their incentive to simply sell products which may or may not be in your best interest), it turns out there is another risk that afflicts advisors of all kinds – including fee-only advisors (such as myself). A Harvard professor […]
The Importance of Expectations
One of the main problems with investing deals with expectations. Sometimes investors don’t know what to expect while other times, investors have expectations that are way out of line. For example, over the long term, an index of U.S. small stocks has historically had a 12% return (from 1923 to today – past performance is […]
Should I Invest in Real Estate?
Note this is a “vintage/classic” story that was featured in my old school, hard-copy, paper newsletter from the summer of 2007. It is reprinted (in its original form) and still holds true today. Real estate has gotten a lot of attention lately. On the positive side, real estate benefited from the high returns over the […]