It’s estimated 44% of eligible voters didn’t fill out a ballot for the 2016 elections. That amount of people vastly outnumbered those who voted for Trump, Clinton or any of the third party candidates. Here’s the data courtesy of The Big Picture: Trump and Clinton were both in the 60 million range while the number of…
Ben Carlson
Tiny Improvements, Big Results
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.” – James Clear I hear from young people on a regular basis who complain that it’s impossible for them to save money. The list holding them back is a long one — student loans, low wages, rent, the high cost of avocado toast, and the desire to actually enjoy…
How Much Should You Charge?
I was having dinner with a group of friends when someone asked what I thought the key to a happy marriage was. My tongue-firmly-in-cheek response was “a king-sized bed.” My wife and I bought a memory foam bed a number of years ago and there’s no way we could ever go back to a regular…
Where Risk Lies in a Balanced Portfolio
The Vanguard Balanced Fund (VBAIX) was down 4.73% in October. This was the worst monthly return for this 60/40 stock/bond fund since September 2011 when it fell 5.0%. The data for this fund goes back to 2001 so I looked at the worst monthly losses to get a sense of where this past month ranks….
Animal Spirits Episode 53: Panic a Little
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: What’s the one thing we’re certain of about the stock market going forward? Why volatility begets more volatility in the markets. How expectations factors into the stock market and the economy. Why the stock market is nothing like a casino. Labor shortages, wages, and…
The Relative Anchor in Rates
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is inching ever closer to 5%, up from 3.35% in May of 2013. This is causing people to worry about how this will impact the housing market. The 10-year treasury yield is above 3% been after bottoming out under 1.4% in the summer of 2016. This is causing people to…
The Psychology of Sitting in Cash, Part Deux
In early-2015 I wrote a piece called The Psychology of Sitting in Cash where I tried to answer the following reader question: I took one piece of advice from a close friend that the market was too high and that I should go to cash and wait for a correction. I am still waiting. How do…
Martin Short’s Nine Categories for Self Evaluation
Martin Short has had a sneaky good career in Hollywood going on four decades or so. He was on Saturday Night Live for just one season in the mid-1980s but that led to movies like Three Amigos, Innerspace, Three Fugitives (underrated if memory serves), Father of the Bride, Captain Ron (loved this one) and many…
When Stocks Fell 10%…
As of the market’s close yesterday the S&P 500 was down 9.4%. Not quite a 10% correction but it’s a stone’s throw away. The question all investors would like to know is how much further this downturn has to go. The answer is I don’t know and neither does anyone else. But we can look…
Animal Spirits Episode 52: The Next Subprime
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: What’s the next subprime? How important is housing to the economy? Housing stocks are getting crushed. What does it all mean? What if mortgage rates keep rising? How inflation impacts portfolio decisions. Why owning bonds is difficult when inflation is rising. The Fed’s take…
