There are nearly two job openings for every unemployed worker with labor statistics showing 11.4 million job openings compared to 5.9 unemployed workers as of April 30, 2022. This mismatch between jobs and workers means that workers have options, including leverage to ask for more pay.
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 a minute, I want to think broadly about the question, “What does it mean to be an investor?”
Stocks are down. Bonds are down. Inflation is up. There is a war in Europe. When nothing feels certain, what should investors do? One of the things we can do is pay attention to something else.
Since the beginning of 2020, checkable deposits have quadrupled, giving consumers the ability to continue spending and withstand increased prices. What does this mean for inflation and prices in the future?
For weeks, the major indices had been declining but in mid-March, we saw a very abrupt reversal. I’m often reminded of the familiar saying “Investors must be present to win.” In other words, the price (or cost) of admission to the investment experience is market volatility.
Pictures and video coming from Ukraine are difficult to watch. As humans, we may be angered and ask, “How can I help?” In investing, typically the best thing to do in the moments when we are most tempted to do “something,” is simply to sit still.
Investors have been experiencing some fear of heights recently. Many stocks and stock markets are at or near all-time highs. So, here’s the question investors need to ask themselves today, ”Do you think that stock markets 26 years from now will be higher or lower than they are currently, even if today is an all-time high?”
Will cryptocurrency replace the $20 bill in your pocket? Will the decentralization/digitization of currency end up solving anything? Will it be of long-term value? Or will it end up being only a place for speculators to try and capitalize on the sentiment of others? Anyone wanting to allocate to cryptocurrency should understand the inherent uncertainty and volatility of this relatively new digital commodity.
Four Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) mutual funds that are held in after-tax accounts managed by Foster Group at Schwab and TD Ameritrade will be converted by DFA to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on Friday, June 11th.
As we’ll see, each of these are real risks, because if they are unmanaged or unanticipated, they may cause investors to focus on the wrong things at the wrong times and lead to actions that may sabotage goals and portfolios.
Don’t believe the lie that you don’t belong or that the keys belong to someone who won’t give them to you.
