“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” -Albert Einstein I feel that one of the greatest signs of intelligence is the ability to explain complex topics in a plain and simple manner that people can understand. This is what makes Warren Buffett such a genius. That’s not to say that…

“Scale coupled with automation can basically bring costs down to zero.” – Herbert Moore Two articles grabbed my attention this week that highlight the fact that things continue to improve for individual investors, specifically on the cost front. The first one came from Larry Swedroe on Seeking Alpha.  Swedroe reviewed a recent academic study on…

“Diversification is always working; sometimes you’ll like the results and sometimes you won’t.” – Larry Swedroe Traders get to use cool sayings like, “let your winners run but cut your losers quickly.” Long-term investors need to periodically do the exact opposite and sell their winners to buy their losers. Mean reversion rests on the premise of…

I love using analogies to explain complex ideas. It’s a great way to make boring or difficult topics more relatable and easily understood. But when you read as much financial information as I do you start to see some repetition in the analogies used to describe the markets and financial planning. I’m not saying most…

“Given the large percentage [of Americans] who never refinance, it’s really important for them to step back and determine whether there’s an opportunity for them to get this big benefit that’s potentially out there,” – Steve Deggendorf, Fannie Mae

“It is high time for costs to be recognized as a crucial factor in determining the future returns that funds earn.” – John Bogle These are the Vanguard fund performance results against their peer group by category through December 31, 2013 over various time frames: You can see that Vanguard funds outperform the majority of…

“The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end, that’s all there is.” – Mr. Carson, Downton Abbey Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make you happier up to a certain point. By now most people have seen the studies that suggest $75,000 a year is the income threshold for happiness….

“By working faithfully for eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.” – Robert Frost

“Don’t do something; just stand there.” – Jack Bogle

“You get what you don’t pay for.” – John Bogle