Esquire is the only print magazine I still subscribe to. They always seem to have a good cover story, usually an interview with a big movie star. I base my reaction about the movie star on one question: Would I want to have a beer with this person? In the most recent interview from the…

If you missed part I of my Q&A with Wes Gray of Alpha Architect, check it out here for thoughts on his firm’s new ETF, the process of starting an ETF and more on quantitative value investing. Part II includes some of Gray’s biggest influences on his investment philosophy and lessons learned from serving our…

The trend towards passive investments continues to gain steam as more investors are opting for lower cost fund options. See this chart from Morningstar via Victor Reklaitis of MarketWatch:

“Spend extravagantly on the things you love, but cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t.” – Ramit Sethi This past week I was watching the news and they showed the obligatory story on the $400+ million Powerball lottery.  There were the standard interviews with people buying tickets at gas stations and 7-11. What would…

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…

“Understanding the irrationalities inherent to human nature is every bit as important as understanding how to read a balance sheet and an income statement.” – Robert Hagstom People make funny decisions with money sometimes. Here are three examples that I find fascinating and confusing yet not all that surprising. 1. Used Car Sales A group…

“In my whole life, I have known no wise people over a broad subject matter area who didn’t read all the time – none, zero.” – Charlie Munger These are the best books I’ve read in 2013. INVESTING Backstage Wall Street by Josh Brown Brown spent a number of years working as a commissioned broker…

“It’s one of my first principles that we never know where we’re going – given the unreliability of macro forecasting – but we ought to know where we are.” – Howard Marks Reader mailbag: I read your article about stock levels (New Round Numbers! What Does it All Mean?) and I’m curious how you could…

“The secret to building a successful common-stock portfolio isn’t to “beat the stock market” over the next two years, it is to capture its entire return over the next two decades.” – Bill Schulteis I’m always interested in finding simple ways to explain the complex topics that are involved in the world of finance. My…

“Stocks are the thing to own over time. Productivity will increase and stocks will increase with it. There are only a few things you can do wrong. One is to buy or sell at the wrong time. Paying high fees is the other way to get killed. The best way to avoid both of these…