July 2017 Monthly Insight: On the Importance of Ignoring Distractions and Financial Literacy
Ignore the Distractions Beyond last month’s synopsis regarding how the markets are reacting to Washington, we’ll stay out of the political weeds and let you form your own opinions. The current environment in Washington is generating an enormous amount of political uncertainty. But, political and international uncertainty has yet to generate economic uncertainty. Hence—and this is important—it really is about the economy. We were told by the pundits that political gridlock and any unraveling of Trump’s tax cut and infrastructure agenda would...
read moreJune 2017 Monthly Insight: Uncertainty, the Trump Agenda, and Stocks
Only a strong economy can create higher asset values and sustainably good returns for savers. — Ben Bernanke, former two-term Chair of the Federal Reserve Uncertainty, the Trump agenda, and stocks There was no shortage of angst in the investment community that a Donald Trump victory in last year’s election would send shares down sharply, at least in the immediate aftermath of a Trump win. In reality, just the opposite happened, with stocks surging in the wake of his surprise victory. The pre-election-day conventional wisdom didn’t pan out. ...
read moreMay 2017 Monthly Insight – Creating a Legacy Plan for Your Social Media Accounts
“Your story is the greatest legacy that you will leave to your friends. It’s the longest-lasting legacy you will leave to your heirs.” —Steve Saint Maybe you’ve seen a lighthearted infographic, widely circulated on the internet, which attempts to explain social media through donuts. Minus the donut photos, it goes something like this: Social Media Explained Twitter – I’m eating a #donut. Facebook – I Iike donuts. LinkedIn – My skills include donut eating. Pinterest – Here’s a donut recipe. Foursquare – This is where I eat donuts. Last FM –...
read moreApril 2017 Monthly Insight: Fear, Greed, and Four Behavioral Biases
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. -Sir Winston Churchill Greed and fear are the two dominant forces that move markets on a daily basis. When stocks are going up, an investor might feel greedy and rush to buy more shares at increasing values, driven by greed to make more and more profits. When stocks are in a general decline, investors tend to sell out of fear that their investment “will go to $0” and they’ll lose everything. Interestingly, these short-term responses to the market force it to overreact, as more buying...
read moreMarch 2017 Monthly Insight: Risk Tolerance, Risk Capacity, and Risk Perceptions
“The confidence people have in their beliefs is not a measure of the quality of evidence but of the coherence of the story the mind has managed to construct.” — Daniel Kahneman Risk Tolerance, Risk Capacity, and Risk Perceptions are important concepts in investing. As a goal-focused, plan-driven financial planning practice, we use these three concepts to help us determine the proper portfolio allocation for individual investors. We consider the investor’s mental attitudes toward risk to determine Risk Tolerance. We analyze financial...
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