Retirement Has Two Doors. Which One Will You Choose?
Retirement has two doors. One leads to a chance of success. One leads to certain failure. Which door will you choose?
Why Does The Average Investor Consistently Underperform His Own Investments?
In a society that has basically turned outperformance into a religion, the average investor is not only underperforming the markets, he is consistently underperforming his own investments!
Retirement Boils Down To One Simple Question
If you spend ten minutes this year reading economic forecasts, you've wasted ten minutes of your time that you'll never get back. By the way, time is your most valuable asset. Invest it wisely.
Thoughts On Japan Market Crisis
On August 5, 2024 and you probably woke up to doom and gloom on the news today about Japan’s stock market and how it’s crashing and how that’s going to affect the US stock market and basically how the world is ending. The world is not ending by the way.
The Noise Created By The 24 Hour News Cycle And Financial Journalism
Every single day each one of us is inundated and sometimes overwhelmed by the tsunami of noise from the 24 hour "news" cycle. Much of it centers around timing of the market and the perfect selection of funds. The "experts" say things like "Big correction coming soon!" or "Here's the three next big technology stocks to jumpstart your portfolio!" and "Inflation is coming, buy gold now!" on and on and on.
Who Or What Causes Inflation?
Inflation is affecting all of us right now. And for many of us, we personally feel the hit in our wallet and our bank accounts. I've calculated that it's costing me and my family right at $8,000 per year just on the basics like fuel, food, and utilities. I shouldn't have to write this disclaimer but in today's political climate, I feel I should. This is not a political or a partisan opinion. Although I do have plenty of both of those, I intentionally keep them out of my blog. So who or what causes inflation? The answer is very simple thus this blog will be short. Here's a hint: It's not the Federal Reserve.
A Day That Changed My Life
It was 8 years ago today. I had visited a good friend of mine and was traveling home from St. Louis, MO. I took a bit of a detour to go look at a motorcycle I had been checking out online. The dealer happened to be in St. Louis so I decide to do some window shopping. It was a Sunday morning. Probably around 8 am so I knew they would be closed, but I was hoping to get a glimpse of the bike in the window.
Owning The Best Companies In The United States
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we’ve seen first hand how world events can affect the markets here in the United States. We’ve seen lots of market volatility since the beginning of the year. But guess what? The market is always volatile. And the reason for that is many investors make all their decisions based on emotion. And by doing this they blur the lines between volatility and risk. Risk and volatility are not the same thing. In fact, they aren’t even remotely related.
The Secret To Successful Investing
The secret to investing is complex. There is no silver bullet, there is no pill to take, there is no hot new stock, etc. Everyday we are bombarded by advertisers trying to sell us quick fixes to complex problems.
Try Something Different With Your Goals This Year
Happy New Year! It's that time of year when many of us resolve to change things for the coming year. We make a list of goals that we plan to stick to for the remainder of the following year. That’s great. What's not great is that the overwhelming majority of us don't stick to those goals. I can't actually prove why but my theory is that most of us have goals that create deprivation. Meaning our goal includes depriving ourselves of something we really like doing.
Let's Make A Deal! (With your R&S Pension)
Let's Make A Deal! (With your R&S Pension)
Cooperative Retirement Decisions
Many of you are blessed to be employed at a cooperative that offers a defined benefit pension plan that provides you with a lump sum payment or a monthly pension payment for life when you retire. Congratulations! Such plans are uncommon today. Many of you will face a challenging decision at retirement. Should you take the lump sum payout or should you take the monthly annuity payment for the rest of your life and, in some cases, the life of your spouse and beneficiaries as well?
Don't Listen To The Serpent
In the Book of Genesis, God gives Adam and Eve authority over the earth, forbidding them of only one thing. They are forbidden from tasting the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. And for a few moments, their innocence is perfect. Then it happens. They taste the fruit and commit the original transgression. And after that, everything bad and wrong with earthly life suddenly enters the world: sin, shame, struggle, sickness and death. They only made one little mistake, but it was the only mistake they couldn't afford to make.
The Biggest Misconception In Retirement
As I write this blog in February 2023, the last 14 months have given us a master class on how inflation can affect retirement planning and your purchasing power in general. Probably the biggest misconception I see when talking to retirees or soon to be retirees is that they worry about losing their "money" in retirement but they don't worry about losing their purchasing power.
3 Tips For A Recession Proof Retirement
It's January 23, 2023 and all the media pundits are trying to predict a recession as if they have any idea about anything at all. In my opinion, and by definition, the American economy was and is already in a mild recession. Let's define what a recession is and what the Gross Domestic Product is and what this means to you. Then we will talk about tips to help you through a recession. And before we start, I urge you not to panic. Recessions are common and often they are exactly what can cure a struggling economy. They are NOT to be feared!
How Long Do Bear Markets Last?
Since 1948, there have been 10 Bear markets U.S. excluding the one we are in right now. The average number of years from the peak of the Bear market to the recovery, meaning the time it took for the S&P 500 to climb back to its previous highs was 3.9 years and the median/midpoint was 2.7 years. On five of those occasions, the market recovered in 2 years or less! In other words, market downturns feel much longer than they actually are.
