Educated optimism is an antidote for anxious uncertainty, and it can be of great help in enabling investors to embrace the uncertainty that is with us all the time.
Has Artificial Intelligence been causing you anxiety, or made you wonder about the trustworthiness of investment markets? Be reminded that “educated optimism is an antidote for anxious uncertainty”.
We believe that investors increase their chances of success by avoiding predictable mistakes, those practices that sound like they should work but have been shown time and again to have very low probabilities of success.
Merriam Webster defines a benchmark as “something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or judged”. For investors, the question to ask is what should be my standard, my benchmark, in determining the success or failure of my overall investment portfolio?
Inflation has been one of the buzzwords in the news media for the past couple of years. Let's explore if it is good or bad and what can you do about it.
How do tariffs impact your investment portfolio? Kent Kramer takes a look at the latest tariff policies, market volatility, and why diversification is key to managing uncertainty.
Kent Kramer tackles the question, 'Is it different this time?' by analyzing what’s different and what's the same in market downturns. He discusses historical market declines, the catalysts behind them, and the importance of maintaining long-term optimism despite short-term volatility.
Barbells work great at the gym because they put weight on a bar in such a way that it’s balanced, leaving room in the middle for someone to use it to workout. We often see portfolios that are designed like a barbell at the gym: lots of risk in one account and lots of cash or very short-term securities in another. In aggregate, it might produce some balance, but the reality is that it can create some real challenges.
Index funds are popular investment tools for good reason. They are low cost, effective ways to capture market return. Choosing to use index funds is only half the battle though; you must use them correctly to truly benefit.
Does it help or harm the average long-term investor to peek at their own accounts or pay attention to the market every day?
For the person who is currently contributing to a portfolio and does not need to take distributions anytime soon, this is a gift. That’s right, a bear market is a gift to those investors. If you are contributing to an investment account right now, you are already in the Bear Market Buyer’s Club.
Takeaways from a smattering of the headlines across a wide range of news sources in 2022 and early 2023.
Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, spent some time with us last month. Here are my takeaways.
Tragically, we humans are, to put it bluntly, awful at wanting the things that will create the most meaning and satisfaction in our lives.
As you peek into the future – hopefully one with greater discretionary time and money – do you envision yourself increasing or decreasing your investment in the well-being of the people close to you and the world in general? Do you see yourself sticking close to the mess of the world or investing in ways that escape it?
Last year was a very up and down year in the market. That’s not abnormal. In fact, it’s what happens most years. December 12 was the only time last year that I looked at the numbers. In not looking at the numbers throughout the year, I not only minimized worry, but also created the opportunity for a happy surprise.
Don’t believe the lie that you don’t belong or that the keys belong to someone who won’t give them to you.
Stock market risk is the primary focus of the financial news. The reason is simple. The scarier the headline, the more eyes are attracted to it.
For 12 seconds, consider what a company knows about you and their own profitability if they are willing to offer you a $500 risk-free bet to get started. That’s what DraftKings just promised me in a commercial. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? OK, the 12 seconds are up. What did you come up with?
Over the years, Foster Group has utilized a number of mutual funds and exchange traded funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA). DFA was founded in 1981 on the idea of making academic investment research and empirically based portfolio management accessible to investors. In this article, Professor Kenneth French describes how markets responded to the events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the following article David draws on his years of experience talking with investors and academics alike to address some common hesitations all investors face from time to time.
