The former is the greatest wealth creation tool ever known to mankind and the latter collects money from starry-eyed patrons hoping to hit it big. In his annual letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett, the world’s most admired (and least imitated) investor, had this to say about his… Read More
Thinking Out Loud
Hi there folks. It’s been quite a while since I posted anything new here. Some of you have probably forgotten you even subscribed. Anyhow, I had a thought I wanted to share with you regarding much of the government-infused capital into our economy over this past year. But first, a prelude. The primary reason many investors shun equity investing is the perceived risk associated with equities. For what it’s worth,… Read More
Making Sense of Bitcoin
Recently, I’ve gotten a number of questions regarding cryptocurrency of late. So, for today’s post, I will attempt to explain bitcoin and some of the best crypto to watch in the current landscape since they are getting so much press these days. I will illustrate the various pieces of this prominent cryptocurrency using the board game Monopoly as a basis for comparison. Let’s get started. Bitcoin: The Creation of the Rule Book Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009. There… Read More
Don’t Confuse Probability with Certainty
We seek certainty in all facets of our lives. But financial planning and life don’t have “laws” like physics. Financial planning is a game of probabilities. When we use financial planning software or any kind of software assistance in projecting anything, almost all outputs are measured in some sort of probability. But our monkey minds turn these probabilities into certainties and financial advisors don’t often help this confusion. But if… Read More
Trading One Risk for Another
Seth Godin writes a daily blog and he recently wrote the following. (Apologies for basically quoting his entire post.) “An abundance of caution. Lawyers are fond of this. And sometimes, parents are too. At least you won’t get blamed if something goes wrong. It turns out that we don’t need an abundance of caution. We need appropriate caution. They’re different things. Abundant caution is wasted. Things like ripe avocados and… Read More
Optimization vs. Optionality
There is this pervasive idea in the financial advisor industry that everyone should be “optimizing” their financial strategies. This buzzword is marketed as hugely valuable such that every person should want it. It’s a differentiator for financial advisors and it encourages the feeling of FOMO if people somehow miss the boat. Once something goes completely mainstream, it’s my nature to question whether it’s all it’s cracked up to be. Mark… Read More
The Language of Investing
Over the past three years or so, I have written about 200,000 words or so on the topic of investing. As I cross into year four of this little site, I have noticed a disconnect that I believe causes investors to make more poor decisions than just about anything else. Interestingly, this disconnect resonates with the world of casino investments, where the allure of quick gains and high-risk ventures often overshadow rational decision-making. Besides casino investments, if you are just interested in playing casino games, visit Online Casino ohne deutsche Lizenz blog, you will find the best casinos without licenses. That is, the language we use. Maybe you have noticed that I almost never use the word “stocks” when I… Read More
How Can We Gauge Our Own Success?
In the movie “Soul”, they tell a story about a fish. A fish swims up to an older fish and says, “I’m trying to find this thing they call ‘the ocean’” “The ocean? the older fish says, “That’s what you’re in now.” “This?” says the young fish. “This is water. What I want is the ocean!” Admittedly, I am like this fish all the time. Always searching for what’s next…. Read More
Behavioral Investment Advice
The concept of “behavioral investment advice” is esoteric because, generally speaking, the only people who know the true value of what it can offer to investors are the advisors who have witnessed first hand the value of said advice. Generally speaking, people who believe advisors are a sham or are overpaid or whatever negative connotation they want to attach can’t accept a value proposition that seems completely intangible on the… Read More
What Do You Need from Your Retirement Portfolio?
In 2020, we ran a $3.7 Trillion deficit. That’s Trillion, with a capital T. Also in 2020, the inflation rate was estimated to be 0.62%. The current 10-year Treasury Note yield is 1.117%. What will happen in the decades to come is anyone’s guess. Will we end up with negative rates as so many countries have or will interest rates rise? Will inflation stay ultra-low or begin to creep up?… Read More
