Common Sense Videos

You will find a list of videos here referred to as “Common Sense” videos. These stemmed from the idea that many financial “rules of thumb” upon more than a cursory inspection, do not seem to be best for most Americans investors. Our intention, create a paradigm shift perhaps, an “Aha” moment for folks. Why is peace of mind so elusive? I think the videos will give you a glimpse of the way the financial services industry operates, as well, how to equip yourself for the financial long-haul. Enjoy!

The Portfolio MRI

 

Is the goal of investing to get a yield/return? Specifically isn’t the goal of investing in the stock market to achieve a market rate of a return? The resounding answer is yes! In the last couple of decades, at various “Retirement Planning Today“ classes that we conduct at local schools and universities, as well face to face coaching sessions, I’ve asked this question thousands of times. “Are you consistently achieving a market rate of return”? This is where I normally get a pause, followed by what would be best described as a deer in the headlight gaze! You see the reality; we are all in the same market environment from year to year, so the same market return is available to those that participate in the market minus the cost of investing.

It’s extremely rare, in my experience, to find an investor who understands this reality or has had this explained. If an investor has never determined whether their portfolio mix of assets is designed to get the market return that is available from year-to-year, how can they know if they’re getting the actual returns available or leaving them on the table? If an investor does not understand what they’re doing or why, how can they ever achieve peace of mind in the financial realm?

Would you like to know whether your portfolio is getting a market rate of return? Do you have a way to compare the returns you have achieved to what the global marketplace has offered in the last 10, 20, 30, or 40 years? With the help of academics from notable institutions like the University of Chicago, Princeton, Dartmouth, and Yale, we do. You see the data has been tracked for many decades; unfortunately it is rarely used to educate people about the realities of the greatest wealth creation tool known to man, the stock market. Why not you? Why not now? Take charge of your financial future and learn about the “The Portfolio MRI”.

Lies

 

You don’t know what you don’t know! Simple, but profound. As an investor you may fall victim to the lies of the financial industry, including large investment institutions and the financial media. Belief in and action taken based on these fallacies have caused thousands of investors to lose massive amounts of their investment monies. The purpose of this is to dispel those lies and give you the opportunity to be a successful investor and the reality of investing and financial planning.  All you need is the right formula so you can concentrate on how to better manage your money instead of being bombarded by the minutia and information overload. Learn the truth about investing and avoid the lies, you can arm yourself against the hype and prepare for investment success. Request more information and learn about how peace of mind is achievable in financial planning.

Coin Flipping

 

There’s a saying I’ve heard through the years, “Nobody loses in Vegas “. This makes me think of a relatively new area of financial study amongst many of the top university finance programs. The area of study is designed to understand better about investor behavior and psychology. We have learned more about this particular field from experts like Terrance Odean at UC Berkeley.

It has become very clear that the fight or flight response that we are inherently born with, was great when we were being chased by sabertooth tigers, however today a lack of understanding in the way we are hardwired can be detrimental to one’s ability to really succeed with their portfolio management. What’s interesting is the biggest group of people that fall into this trap, of false patterning and looking for insight as to how the market will act, is perpetuated by investment advisors. Do not fall prey to slick emotional-based marketing, rather get educated. Check out our free financial resource page and find out how education may save you from your hardwired instincts.

Are You Diversified?

 

When it comes to portfolio construction, as well as portfolio allocation, one of the biggest areas that investors do not understand is the concept of dissimilar price movement. A simple example would be the idea of owning umbrella companies and sun tan lotion companies. Umbrella companies, unto themselves may be volatile, and sun lotion companies, they to would also be fairly volatile. However, when you add them together you see the value and the reality of what diversification or dissimilar price movement brings to a well-designed portfolio.

There’s no questioning in the arena of investments and financial planning that the use of “Modern Portfolio Theory”, which was fathered by Harry Markowitz, is scientifically sound and predominately practiced in finance. What we find when analyzing portfolios is a reasonable amount of different holdings, but a lot of stuff does not equal true diversification. The unintended consequences of an investors’ attempt to diversify, is most often just a lot of redundancy of the same companies held in different areas of their portfolio. Example: Is it good to own Apple in 10 separate funds? The result is a diminished market return because of the lack of true diversification.

Investor’s Dilemma

 

Investments, income planning, portfolio construction, and tax planning are just a few topics that throw many people into the investor dilemma mindset. We are all emotional individuals; we want to be secure in our future financially. This need for security leads us to try to forecast our financial future. As we embark on a journey to getting educated we hope to squelch this feeling of fear and uncertainty. The result often leads to a plethora of information and mental overload. This can be avoided with some education and the help of educated financial planners.  The focus is on understanding the balance of emotion and information that are required to create good financial plans.

The investor dilemma, in essence promotes an emotion-based environment that does not harbor peace. If you have often felt inadequate when discussing financial issues it is not an indictment on your intellect, rather an indictment on an industry that does not seem to value education. You do not have to know everything if you have an investor coach teaching you the few right things. Go to the contact section and feel free to reach out. We would be happy to help you achieve peace of mind and achieve your financial plans.

20 Questions

 

What if everything you thought you knew about retirement planning and investing turned out to be incorrect, when would you want to know? Once you did know would you do something about it? The real battle for investors comes when they attempt to exercise discernment not knowing or understanding the mechanisms involved. In other words, if you haven’t had access to any investor education or any real face to face specific scenario driven solutions and clarity, the result is often stress and confusion. The reality, this stress creates and will often lead to, emotional overload, and people will then revert to emotion-based decisions. These often lead to remorse in the long run. Take a look, then take advantage of 20 must answer question quiz to find out what you need to learn about to take charge of your financial future.

Preparing For Peace Of Mind

 

As Investment Advisors we experience firsthand the roller coaster that many individuals go on emotionally when they start to think about the monumental task of retirement planning. Most issues in retirement can be explained in a logical manner that in reality should trump the emotion. We believe education leads to clarity, clarity to confidence, and only with confidence is peace of mind achievable. In order arrive at that state of mind over retirement planning issues individuals really needs to understand what’s happening. We hope this video gives a brief demonstration of why a financial planner, wealth advisor, or investment coach is so vital to lead people through the maze and complexity of the retirement planning model.