Each day, investors everywhere compare their portfolio’s return to a benchmark. Many times, at least for investors in the U.S., the benchmark of choice is the S&P 500. I find it endlessly fascinating because a benchmark is simply the average of all investor returns before costs. This is not opinion, but fact. John Bogle, the late founder of Vanguard, said it this way in his book “Common Sense on Mutual… Read More
A Portfolio Strategy For 30-Year Retirements
PLEASE NOTE: This is a long post, but I passionately believe that if retirees have any chance of getting things right, they must properly understand all the underlying assumptions they are making in their retirement planning decision process. And because I view the subject(s) of this particular article to be so important, I wanted all the thoughts in one place instead of being spread amongst three or four individual posts… Read More
“Optimal” Retirement Planning Strategies
I read articles regularly that discuss optimal portfolio withdrawal strategies. I think these articles are great but are probably best kept in the academic world. In other words, they should not be given to clients. I have a friend that was forwarded one of these articles by an advisor as the basis for their retirement planning decisions and asked for my thoughts. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that this advisor… Read More
Objectivity as a Value Proposition
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)… Read More
Emotions & Retirement Planning
Last week, I had a conversation with a recently retired reader that I thought might be applicable to what many retirees are likely to experience at some point in retirement and wanted to share some insights with regard to how you might approach the issue. Important points from the conversation: Earlier this year during the market pullback, the investor sold his entire equity position and invested the proceeds into bonds… Read More
Who is going to help your spouse?
Last week I wrote a post titled “Switching Advisors at Retirement - Things to Consider“. It didn’t occur to me until after re-reading it that I realized I omitted one of the most important (and overlooked) things you should be looking for in your search. And that is, “Who is going to help your spouse if something happens to you?” When considering switching advisors, the final decision regarding who to… Read More
Switching Advisors at Retirement - Things to Consider
As investors close in on retirement, it’s relatively common to consider changing advisors. I often inquire when meeting a prospective client for the first time as to why they are considering making a change, and the answer usually falls within one of two categories: (1) They question whether or not their advisor has the expertise necessary to get them through their retirement or (2) Their advisor is roughly their age… Read More
My Financial Planning Principles
When choosing a financial advisor, it’s critical that you agree on a common set of beliefs to ensure that proper expectations are set. Therefore, I felt it would be helpful to make my specific planning and investing principles readily available. Below you’ll find my Financial Planning Principles. If you’re interested in my Investment Principles, click here. Financial Planning Principles: In order to be successful financially, you need a plan -… Read More
My Process - What You Can Expect
The process I use has been designed to help you make a comfortable decision regarding who you’d like to partner with for your retirement. There is no cost or obligation for going through this process as I want you to know exactly what you can expect before you pay us a single dollar. Step One - Initial “Fit” Meeting: Perhaps most importantly, I understand that for many people, the most… Read More
