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May 18, 2016 in Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
A Fund Isn’t an Index (and Why That Matters) In our last post, we covered how not all indexes are created equally, which means that results may vary, even when they are supposedly tracking the same market. In today’s post, let’s look at how and why a fund’s performance may deviate from its closest benchmark index. Indexes vs. Evidence-Based Funds: Similar But Different Take one more step away from the real-life market,...

May 10, 2016 in Investing, Research
In recent posts (part I and part II), we covered some of the ways people try to determine how their investments have been doing, and how mismatched measures can generate misguided views. Determining your portfolio’s Time-Weighted Rate of Return (TWR) is one way to reach a relatively accurate sense of how your portfolio is doing compared to its most appropriate benchmarks during particular periods of time. One good two-part series deserves...

May 4, 2016 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Fiduciary, Investing
Well, speaking of the devil. Or, in this case, the devilish ways that some financial representatives make investment recommendations that may or may not be in your best interest. It depends on whether they are in a fiduciary relationship with you … or not. No sooner had we wrapped our own post explaining why the term may be as important as it is unfamiliar, Dimensional Fund Advisors published its own handy...

April 26, 2016 in Advisor Role, Financial Life Planning, Investing
The credentials alone may say it all about Michael Kitces and his Nerd’s Eye View on financial planning. With two master’s degrees in financial services and taxation, a CFP® mark, and five other financial certifications to his name, that’s some serious nerd power. But what’s decidedly cool about Kitces is his passion for sharing his “journey of continuous education” with fellow advisors as well as with investors looking for a...

April 20, 2016 in Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
Part II: Your Portfolio and Its Parts In our last post, we discussed why it’s best to avoid comparing your own investment returns to “the market” or the latest popular portions of it. There’s one more misleading measurement that can trip up an investor: [message_box title="Your Portfolio" color="gray"] = Pursing the market’s expected returns (by investing in asset classes with higher expected returns but higher volatility) + Managing the risks involved (by investing in asset classes with more...

April 12, 2016 in Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
Part I: Coveting Your Neighbors’ Returns It’s ironic. One of the biggest questions we ask ourselves as investors is: “How am I doing?” While the question is a good one, if the answers are off-base, you risk changing course when you should be sitting tight, or sitting tight when you should be considering a change. This is not only frustrating, it can detract from … how you are doing. It’s a...

March 29, 2016 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Fiduciary, Investing
One of the reasons I read as much as I do is to be inspired by others. There’s nothing I love more than discovering an intriguing new way to frame an old idea, and then sharing what I’ve learned, hoping to inspire others as well. On the flip side, there’s nothing more demoralizing than falsehoods or opinions being spread as facts. They remind me of a shopping channel infomercial. Watch it...

March 22, 2016 in Investing, Mindful living
Whether or not the weather is entirely on board with the program, the calendar never lies: Spring has sprung! As we prepare to shed a layer or more of winter-wear, let’s take a moment to peel back the layers of your busy life as well: Do your financial plans include making time for some playtime? The subject may seem lighthearted, but I’m very serious about this. It’s a question we pose...

March 15, 2016 in Investing, Mindful living
With his worth estimated at around $40 billion (as of mid-February), at least as measured in dollars, Michael Bloomberg is among the most successful people alive. How does this sort of success happen? It’s unlikely there is a single recipe for amassing billions. (And personally, we’d be okay with, say, a mere $500 million to our name.) But this recent post by Gillian Zoe Segal describes seven traits that successful people...

March 7, 2016 in Dimensional, Evidence-Based Investing, Investing
Still Going Global We’ve said it before and we’ll no doubt say it again. In fact, because it’s so important, we dedicated one of last summer’s Investment Basics Series installments to global diversification, “your super power to help you manage that market risk by spreading it around, widely and globally.” In this year’s markets, the message bears repeating so disparate global returns don’t tempt you to concentrate your holdings too close to home....