“We looked at assets under management, revenues generated for advisors’ firms, and quality of practices.” Barron’s 2/23/2015 As Dana Carvey’s Church Lady used to say, “Isn’t that special?” Barron’s magazine came out with their Top 1,200 Financial Advisors list this week. I would question the definition of their term “Top”. Does this refer to the…
Ten Wall Street Pick-up Lines to Avoid
“If your proposed marriage contract has 47 pages, I suggest you not enter.” This quote by Charles Munger hammers home the role of trust in an investment relationship. Michael Kitces of Nerds Eye View wrote a post entitled “What is the philosophy of your financial planning firm? It deals with what an advisor doesn’t believe…
What We Think… We Become
This quote from Buddha succinctly summarizes the all-important psychological component of investing. While the term “mental toughness” is a term more recognizable in professional sports, it is also a critical aspect of a successful investment process. In professional sports, teams get to keep their trophies. Unless you are a little league team from Chicago, championships…
What’cha talkin ’bout Willis??
“Each fund’s returns are adjusted for 12b-1 fees, which are used for marketing and distribution expenses. Funds typically factor these into returns to better reflect what investors would see after these annual fees have been deducted. But our aim is to measure the manager’s skill, uncomplicated by expenses. Fund loads or sales charges, aren’t included…
On Second Thought, You Should Invest Like Pete Carroll
Like everyone else last Sunday, I was screaming like an orangutan on amphetamines at the t.v., “How could you not unleash the beast from the one yard line??” Pete Carroll instantly transformed himself into the “stupid” Rob Lowe from those cheesy commercials! After some reflection, I have changed my mind. Investors can learn a great…
The Unknown Unknowns: Three deceptive practices of the financial industrial complex
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. There are also unknown, unknowns. These are things we don’t know we don’t know.” Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld This quote, describing the post invasion…
Any advisor who can be replaced by a computer, should be
“To all of those people and firms criticizing the Robo-Advisors…If you think you can do better prove it.” Ben Carlson nails it in his post The Robo-Advisor Challenge Many advisors fear these insurgents. Advisors charging 1.25% AUM fees (assets under management); packing clients into proprietary or incentive-laden funds; and providing no financial planning services should…
SELF- The most important ticker symbol
“The key to financial success isn’t saving, but investing in your own future production.” Cullen Roche This quote from the book Pragmatic Capitalism has enormous ramifications to investors at every stage. What Mr. Roche is trying to say is: Investing in yourself is the wisest choice a person can make and will provide the highest…
School Daze – Three Bad Investing Habits Reinforced by Our Educational System
While most are in agreement that our public school system is in need of massive reform, few areas are in as dire-straights as the subject of financial literacy. Here are some gruesome statistics. Fewer than 50% of public high schools require students to take an economics course. Only 13% require a personal finance class, according…
Grab the phone from that Imbecile! Tales of FX trading
All of the madness this week dealing with Swiss Franc mayhem brought back my memories of the insane world of FX Trading. I chuckle when I hear ads on the radio talking about doing this from home to supplement your income. If the definition of supplement is losing all of your money, these ads are…
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