May 2017

A Few Charts and a Few Thoughts

You’ve probably seen a chart that compares what $1 would have grown to if you just bought stocks and left it alone. You might also have seen the same chart showing how much worse the returns would have been if the 25 best days weren’t included. Finally, you might also have seen a similar chart…

These Are the Goods

Articles Real financial planning is so much more than pontificating about the benefits of a low-cost, globally diversified portfolio. By Tony Isola Successful long-run investing is a mental game more than anything else. By James Osborne The assumption that you can keep the returns of owning stocks while getting rid of the downside has turned…

My Friend is Beating Me

 I got an email from a reader which touches on so many interesting points that I wanted to share and answer him here. I have a 401(k) through my employer and invest mostly in a passive strategy indexed to the S&P. I have a friend who like me has a 401(k) through his employer. Where we differ,…

Establishing Yardsticks

I’m in the process of writing a book and I’m currently on the chapter about Warren Buffett. I don’t want to reveal too much, but the extended blog post is something I’d want to read, so I’ve been having a lot of fun writing it. It gives a different look at some of the greatest…

Today in Market History

Today in market history, 1975: The first day of operations for the Vanguard Group. The fund company consists of 3 people in Pennsylvania. — Ritholtz Wealth (@RitholtzWealth) May 1, 2017 42 years ago today, subsequent to being removed from his role as CEO at Wellington, Jack Bogle started the Vanguard group. Today the company is ubiquitous,…

Go With the Flow

In the thirteen months from March 2016 through March 2017, investors around the globe added to U.S. ETFs every single month. Europe, on the other hand did, not see the same level of investor appreciation. The global investor asked for their money back in eight out of those thirteen months. The home-country bias exists all…