Warren Buffet says "Investing is simple but it is not easy." There are a lot of misconceptions about investing. Let's look at four big ones. Misconception #1 - Studying the financial statements of individual stocks and learning the techniques of how traders execute will improve my investment returns. This is a surprisingly common idea, that if we just learn enough that we can do better. I … [Read more...]
Saving Money is Lost on the Young
Your current situation and your future are two different things. Saving money requires thinking ahead. If you are in college right now, or are otherwise just starting out, this post is for you. I was just out of high school around the time this arrest photo of Bill Gates was taken, one of several arrests in the late 1970s. He was already successful, but probably had no idea of just … [Read more...]
Holiday Message
Best wishes to all my readers this holiday season! I have so much to be grateful for, starting with my family and friends, and my family has been blessed to live in this great and prosperous United States. We have an economic system that provides everyone the opportunity to own a piece of every (public) company on the planet. Through hard work, frugality, and time, our world bestows great gifts … [Read more...]
Knowledge is Essential to Investment Success
Success with investing means not only saving on investment costs and selecting the right allocation, but also having the confidence from knowledge. One of my biggest concerns about the trend towards robo-investing is that, at its core, the presumption is savers do not want or need to be bothered with knowledge or in-depth understanding about their investments. One online session does it all! … [Read more...]
How to Tune Out the Noise of Financial Markets
The fastest way to investment failure is listening to the siren song of the financial markets to "do something." Here are four strategies to help you tune out the noise and stick to your plan. Interest rates might rise. ISIS may strike again. US stocks are overvalued. The US dollar is too strong. Economic growth is too slow...this constant barrage of news is designed to make you act - to do … [Read more...]
Four Reasons to Own REITs
REITs (and REIT index funds in particular) are a good diversifier of performance within an index portfolio. Here are four reasons why adding a "separate slice" to REITs might be a good idea. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are companies that own and normally operate real estate properties that generate income from leases and financing of property purchases. If you already own a U.S. … [Read more...]