A Few of My Favorite Things
Almost everyone has a few of their favorite things. One of my top questions to ask friends and clients is, “What are some of your most treasured memories and keepsakes?”
When Market Volatility Creates Opportunity
Category: Financial Planning » Behavioral Finance
The first half of 2022 has proven to be challenging for investors. Being an investor during volatile markets isn’t easy, but there are a few strategies to consider in order to make the best of a difficult situation.
Speeding Tickets & Investing
Recently, I received a gift from the Iowa State Patrol in the form of a speeding ticket. In reflecting on this experience, it occurred to me that I took an unnecessary risk to attain something I didn’t need and ended up sacrificing money I didn’t have to lose.
Chart of the Month – June 2022
Category: Investing
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.
Are You Checking Your Accounts Every Day? Stop it.
Category: Investing
Does it help or harm the average long-term investor to peek at their own accounts or pay attention to the market every day?
What Does It Mean to Be an Investor? – Part One
Category: Investing
For a minute, I want to think broadly about the question, “What does it mean to be an investor?”
Chart of the Month – May 2022
Category: Investing
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?
Investors Must Be Present to Win
Category: Investing
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.
What to Do & What Not to Do in Response to Russia-Ukraine War
Category: Investing
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.
Still Searching for the One?
Category: Investing
You do not need to pick the next big winner in order to have a successful investment experience. As a matter of fact, behaving as if this were possible is an almost certain way to have a terrible investment experience. What are the hallmarks of a more successful approach?
Inflation Aware Investing
Category: Investing
You know the old saying, “What goes up must come down.” Currently everything seems to be going up at the same time.
10 Obstacles to Investing – and How to Overcome Them
Category: Investing
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.
Do I Have Portfolio Exposure to China?
Category: Investing
In recent weeks, China has been a part of US financial headlines for a number of reasons. At Foster Group, we believe in globally diversified model portfolios. We invest our equity portfolios across domestic markets, international markets, and emerging markets. Our models have equity exposure to over 51 countries.
My Top 9 + 1 from Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money
Category: Investing
Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, spent some time with us last month. Here are my takeaways.
Barbell Portfolios Can Be Hard To Hold On To
Category: Investing
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.
The Influence of Trust
Category: Financial Planning » Behavioral Finance
A good relationship with our clients comes down to a handful of things. One of those things is whether a client trusts that we know more than they do about the type of investing we do at Foster Group.
Investment Policy Statement – Why Is It Important?
Category: Investing
It is important for all investors, whether an individual, family, retirement plan, or nonprofit, to plan their investment approach around their goals and objectives. Investment Policy Statements (IPS) often document these items. Here are four reasons why it is important to have a clearly articulated IPS.
An Investment Portfolio Is Like a Good Smoothie
Category: Investing
Recently, I rediscovered the benefits of homemade smoothies for breakfast. They are nutritious, natural, easy to make, efficient, and delicious! This morning, I was thinking about how a good investment portfolio is like a good smoothie!
DraftKings Knows More About You Than You Know About You
Category: Investing
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?
Equilibrium Markets in the Time of COVID
Category: Investing
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.
Two Dimensional Mutual Funds Will Be Converted to Exchange Traded Funds on September 10th
Category: Investing
Two Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) mutual funds that are held in after-tax accounts managed by Foster Group at Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade will be converted by DFA to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on Friday, September 10th.