There are two paths that investors can follow, and pretty much only two.
This involves three steps. Invest in a risk-aware strategy. Fund it regularly. Get on with life. There will be ups and downs but, with time, you’ll win.
This involves Continue reading
Beware of big promises! Several articles have been written recently about BOXX ETF. Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF which tries to outperform an ultra-cheap vanilla ETF by using an option swap strategy. In theory, the game will allow investors to pay the long-term capital gain rate on their games rather than the ordinary income rate.
Here’s the advisor’s description of their Continue reading
Dear friends,
February is a fraught month, historically. For Romans, it once did not exist. And then it did, as the last month of the year, with the new year beginning when the crops were first sewn and all eyes looked to the future. Februalia, the festival of purification, was the last chance to put the misdeeds of the past behind us and to be prepared to build a future upon a solid foundation.
It’s also the month in which Augustana launches its Spring semester; as I ponder the snow piles on campus, I could imagine a more Continue reading
The reported death of the 60/40 portfolio is premature. It did suffer some serious illness as the stock market fell and interest rates rose last year. I help family and friends work with Financial Advisors to set up managed portfolios of mutual funds and exchange traded funds at Edward Jones, Fidelity, and Vanguard. Jeff DeMaso from The Independent Vanguard Advisor was kind enough to provide a Moderate Portfolio for this article. In this article, I am describing Continue reading
College professors are, quintessentially, learning machines. Give us 15 minutes of peace, and we’ll sink happily into piles of data, stacks of books, beckoning journal articles, or quiet processing.
And the reality of the matter is that almost no one gives anyone 15 minutes of peace these days.
Why 15 minutes? Read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (2008). Flow is a state of complete immersion in a project, and it seems to take us 15 minutes or so to get in the flow. Every “do you have just a minute?” kicks us back out and costs us another 15 minutes to get back.
Augustana’s January Term is Continue reading
Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
— Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 1789
I read Tax the Rich!: How Lies, Loopholes, and Lobbyists Make the Rich Even Richer by Morris Pearl and Erica Payne at the Patriot Millionaires. They are a Continue reading
Someone will always be getting richer faster than you. This is not a tragedy.
I’ve heard Warren say a half a dozen times, “It’s not greed that drives the world, but envy.”
Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?
Charles Thomas Munger (1924-2023)
Each year I share Continue reading
Touchdowns and Turnovers: MFO’s All-Star Picks for the Best US Equity Funds of 2023
Who will be the NFL MVP? The money is on Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, declared “undeniably one of the most electric players in the league.” The 27-year-old had a passer rating of 102.7 with 3,678 yards, 24 touchdowns against seven interceptions, and played in all 16 games. He was magical. (At least until he faced the Steelers against whom he sports a 1-3 record or got to the playoffs.) For his accomplishments, he earned Continue reading
In this article, I would like to talk about how I am allocating my portfolio. I want to note that every single fund I have positively highlighted in my MFO articles is also one of my portfolio holdings. My money is where my mouth is, and you, the reader, get the good with the bad. Take what’s useful to you and throw away the rest.
For 18 months, from Feb 2022 and Oct 2023, it was Continue reading
Vanguard is introducing new and enhanced intergenerational wealth and legacy planning capabilities through a partnership with Vanilla, an innovative provider of digital estate planning tools and solutions. The offer was successfully piloted to a small group of eligible advised clients in Vanguard Personal Advisor Wealth Management over the past year and will Continue reading