This one is a bit of a softball, and you can probably guess what my answer is. But given that the end of the year was yet another apocalypse du jour and that retirees often worry themselves into making poor portfolio decisions during that sort of event, I wanted to discuss it in more detail. During the final quarter of 2018, the S&P 500 declined almost 14%. Just prior to 4Q 2018, the financial media was naturally (conveniently?) bullish as…
A friend of mine has a client that inquired with disappointment that his account was down 2.5% when the S&P was up 0.5%. He wanted to know why his portfolio was performing so poorly by comparison to the S&P. At the time of this inquiry, the S&P was up 0.5%, Small Cap was down 5% and International was down about 15%. This has been a pretty typical refrain for many investors over the past 10 years as the S&P has…
The words we use are important. When you hear the term “stock market,” what immediately comes to mind? Recently, I completed an informal survey asking that very question of various non-financial industry connections and the number one response was “risky.” I think part of the reason people view investing as risky has something to do with the term we use when referring to the assets we are purchasing — stocks. “Stocks” at an emotional level have no personalities, no balance…
The Latin term panem et circenses (bread and circuses) is a figure of speech for a superficial form of appeasement. It is a diversion or a distraction from core issues. If you’ve seen the movie Gladiator, multiple times they show Roman soldiers throwing bread into the stands of the Colosseum prior to the starting of the games. Both the provisions of bread and the games themselves (hence bread and circus) were literally designed to be distractions from the poor living…
The last time you were on an airplane, do you remember what the flight attendants did before takeoff? Of course you do. They provided you with a safety demonstration on what to do if there is an emergency. But I’ll bet that virtually nobody paid any attention to them because nobody ever does. (Full disclosure: I also ignore the safety demonstration.) If the plane has an issue though, there is no doubt that mayhem would ensue. And rightfully so, I’d be…
Wrote a piece for CNBC on the role of bonds in a retirement portfolio. In the article, I share some thoughts on the topic with the aid of historical perspective and how things have changed over the past few decades. Below is the link. Conventional Wisdom of Bonds Dominating a Portfolio in Retirement is now Outdated Thanks for reading! Ashby Daniels Shorebridge Wealth Management 600 Waterfront Drive, Suite 125 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412-742-4861 Disclaimers: Securities offered through Raymond…
According to the Investment Company Institute as of March 31, 2018, there were approximately $9.2 trillion in IRA assets. Given the sheer volume of Americans that own an IRA combined with the complicated IRS tax code that accompanies them, there are plenty of ways to trip yourself up when it comes to IRA planning throughout your life. Though not surprisingly, the focus of this article will be the IRA mistakes I see most from folks that are at or nearing retirement…
Winston Churchill is often credited with the statement that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried. This is a lot like how I view the whole active vs passive management debate because there is no perfect way in which to manage a portfolio. But I believe there are significant guideposts to follow that can make the decision a little clearer. There has been a lot of ink spilled over this single…
I’ve been asked a lot recently about what it means to be an evidence-based investor and how it differs from traditional investing. I felt that a few videos might serve as a helpful introduction to the evidence-based approach. These three videos are prepared by Dimensional Fund Advisors and Vanguard which are two of the primary investment partners that I use as I implement evidence-based investing for my clients. Enjoy! Pardon the quality of the video below, but it…
Faith rarely gets mentioned when discussing how to successfully invest for retirement. I’m not referring to faith in a religious sense, but faith that the markets will go up over time, albeit with temporary and sometimes drastic pullbacks. Ironically, as the market is still near record highs, pessimism, skepticism, and nervousness continue to be the prevailing sentiments. Virtually everyone I know has significant skepticism with regard to current market values. And it’s understandable especially with the day to day news cycle….