Question: I have dropped commodities for the “well rounded portfolio” and embrace pretty much what you have advised here in this November post. But you don’t mention REITs [Real Estate Investment Trusts]. I still have about 8% in REITs but am thinking of selling those as well. Thoughts? Answer: REITs are businesses, so they fit into Read more »
The Ride Is the Reason for the Return
I despise market commentary, both for the presumption that anyone really knows the reason for short-term movements and because it distracts people from the fact that investing in equities is a matter of long-term ownership in the businesses that provide the world’s goods and services. Fluctuations in human emotions explain more of the short-term movement Read more »
Seven Steps to Financial Peace of Mind
Before addressing specialized areas, I’d like to offer my thoughts on basic financial advice for do-it-yourselfers: Spend less than you earn Be an owner, not a loaner Commit to your service Locate yourself Adopt pay-as-you-go Protect against major threats Focus on relationships 1. Spend less than you earn. You want your life to point up rather Read more »
An All-TIPS Retirement Savings Portfolio?
Question: I’m curious how you might evaluate the thinking of Zvi Bodie, who notes, in this link, that 100% of the money he is setting aside for retirement is held in treasury-inflation-protected securities, and that all of one’s income needs for retirement be comprised essentially of social security plus TIPS in an IRA account. The Read more »
Lesson 22 – Does the Doctor Take His Own Medicine?
I am sometimes asked if I invest my own money the same way I invest client money. I’m afraid such questions usually elicit a sarcastic response such as: “Do you think a surgeon should undergo the same operations she performs?” Or “Why would I even invest for one client the same way as another, let Read more »
Lesson 15 – How to Slowly and Safely Go Broke
Everybody knows that stocks are risky. Everybody is right. Even a typical globally diversified stock portfolio, the S & P Global 100 Index ETF, lost 56% of its value between that Halloween date in 2007 that I mentioned in the last lesson and March 9, 2009, which by a strange coincidence is National Panic Day. (I’m Read more »
Lesson 13 – Stocks for the Long Run
Obviously, you cannot buy everything. Where would you put it? Also, not everything’s for sale. We need to limit our discussion, at least initially, to investments that are easy for the average person to make. We’ll begin with stocks. I can’t predict the future. I can, however, do a reasonable job of predicting the past. Read more »
Lesson 7 – The Problem of the Short Term
People sometimes get the impression that I think all investors, regardless of their personal circumstances, ought to keep 100% of their investment funds in stocks all of the time. Now I won’t be so disingenuous as to say, “Nothing could be further from the truth.” But I will say that isn’t the truth. As books such Read more »
Lesson 6 – The Real Meaning of Safety
There are some people who believe that a retiree’s portfolio should consist primarily of “safe” investments. In this context, safe generally means low volatility. If, for example, you keep all your money in a federally insured bank account, then it will never have a day when it goes down in value. There are, however, two Read more »