Marc Andreessen recently told Brian Koppelman venture capitalists seem to have an unlimited amount of ideas to pick from these days. Ideas are the easy part. The hard part is executing on those ideas. Andreessen said his venture firm a16z is more interested in founders with great ideas who can also sell those ideas to…
Ben Carlson
RWM is Hiring!
My firm is in the market for a new trader. See the details here: Ritholtz Wealth Management is a registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City with advisors and clients across the country. The firm launched in 2013 and in just over five years amassed more than $1 billion in client assets under management,…
Dividends Don’t Matter As Much As They Used To
In his excellent market history book, It Was a Very Good Year, Martin Fridson tells the story of the year that was in the market in 1915. It remains one of the strongest years on record for the stock market, which was up more than 50%, even though World War I was well underway at the time….
The Stocks Manage Themselves
Professor, investor, and researcher Roger Ibbotson made an excellent point about investing in stocks in a recent sit-down with Barry for MIB: As a portfolio manager, you could do nothing and you might do fine. You don’t have to literally trade every day to make things work. You only want to trade when you really…
7 Benefits of Writing
One of the reasons I prioritize writing is because I’ve seen so many benefits from the process, both personally and professionally. Here are some that come to mind: 1. The learning process. There are a dozen iterations of the quote that goes something like this: “I write to learn what it is I think.” I…
Animal Spirits Episode 75: The Netflix of Financial Advice
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: How to pay for college on the cheap Why is financial literacy in the U.S. so low? Is there ever going to be a solution for the retirement savings crisis? The Netflix model for financial advice Why the financial services industry is like the…
So I Tried Cutting the Cord…
It’s estimated the average American spends nearly 3 hours a day watching TV. Many bemoan the fact that people waste so much time with mindless entertainment like this but I don’t really have a problem with it as long as you take care of business elsewhere in your life. We all need some time to…
Real Estate vs. The Stock Market
Home ownership is often called both the American Dream and the biggest investment of your life. It’s debatable whether a house is truly an investment or not, especially when we’re talking about your primary residence. Whether it’s an investment or not, house prices do change over time and the equity you build can be impacted…
How to Create Your Own Pension
Social Security is one of the most unique retirement strategies available because it protects against: Volatility risk Longevity risk Inflation risk Insurance risk (death of a spouse) Cognitive risk Since so many people are woefully prepared for retirement in terms of their assets, Social Security will be required to play an important role in retirement…
Personal Finance For Normal People
When I came up with an outline for my book proposal for what eventually became A Wealth of Common Sense: Why Simplicity Trumps Complexity in Any Investment Plan, my grand idea was to make markets, investing, and personal finance accessible to normal people. I wanted to explain complex topics using plain English, a little bit…
