Financial planner extraordinaire Michael Kitces had a great post last week on some words and phrases that need to be banished from retirement planning. A few examples Kitces used: Banish retirement income in favor of retirement cash flows. Banish retirement in favor financial independence. This got me thinking about some of the other words and…

“The paradox of skill says that when the outcome of an activity combines skill and luck, as skill improves, luck becomes more important in shaping results.” – Michael Mauboussin I recently wrote a post about how size is the enemy of outperformance. My main point was that extreme levels of outperformance become nearly impossible to pull…

Earlier this month the Wall Street Journal posted an excerpt from a letter written by a hedge fund manager to his investors stating the reasons (see also: excuses) he had to close down his fund. Here’s part of the rant: Post-2008 monetary policies have rewarded the beta investor who’s gone “all in” on market risk and themes,…

Morningstar had an interesting piece out this week about the alternative mutual fund universe. While Morningstar studies have shown that the most dependable predictor of future fund performance is low expenses, investors in this universe of funds aren’t following that advice: From 2011 to 2013, only 36% of the net $58 billion that has flowed…

“The only investors who shouldn’t diversify are those who are right 100 percent of the time.” – John Templeton It’s often said that diversification is the only free lunch in finance. However, this an incomplete statement because diversification alone doesn’t get you all the way there. There are no benefits to diversification if you don’t…

“The real purpose of saving is to empower you to keep your priorities – not to make you sacrifice.” – Charley Ellis BlackRock recently released the results from a survey asking investors about their five biggest retirement concerns. Here they are in order: 1. How do I start saving for retirement? 2. Am I investing…

“My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.” – Charles Kettering Are you bullish or bearish on the market? I get this question a lot. Obviously I have my feelings on the attractiveness of the different stock markets. But in the grand scheme of things,…

Some simple reminders about what to focus on: Portfolio management not investment strategies. Meeting your needs & desires not beating benchmarks. Risk management not risk measurement. Long-term process not short-term outcomes. Products you understand not investments that sound clever. Important not urgent. Simplicity not complexity. Think opportunities not volatility. Fewer decisions not more choices. Enough…

“Being passive doesn’t mean doing nothing.” – Larry Swedroe One of the first decisions you need to make in the process of building an investment portfolio is whether you will be an active or a passive investor.  Most investors assume this means making the choice between index funds and active management, but that’s too much…

“The one rule I have is I give very general instructions to my financial advisor, and then I don’t monitor it. I think that’s good, both because it causes more anguish than pleasure, on average, and because you’re tempted to make stupid decisions if you monitor things too closely.” – Daniel Kahneman As Daniel Kahneman…