Last week, I mentioned an investment ad I had seen on a flight that pushed people to invest with a certain bank because of the bank’s location (Switzerland), its secrecy policies, and its “unique” investment schemes. I argued that none of these were sufficient reasons to work with them…. Read more
Investment Strategies
The Art of Diversification and Laddering
The principle of not putting all of your eggs in one basket applies to life in general, and particularly investing. You don’t have to be an egg farmer or a Nobel Prize winner to understand the sense in planning your finances carefully and not putting all of your money in one place in order to spread out the risk…. Read more
Watch Out for Investment Ads
Recently, I flew to an investment conference. As I settled in for the long trip, I read the in-flight magazine. When I got to the advertisements for financial companies, I reviewed them carefully and realized a critical distinction: Whereas some sold form, others sold content.
Don’t invest in image
One Swiss bank’s ad stressed two images,… Read more
Don’t Gamble Unless You Can Afford to Lose
How much risk can you comfortably afford to take with your investment portfolio?
The answer depends on three things:
The size of your safety zone.
Zvi Bodie, a finance professor at Boston University, says the assets that cover your needs (as opposed to your wants) should be a “safety zone” and invested more conservatively than the rest of your portfolio…. Read more
The #1 Wrong Reason to Make Investment Decisions
Have you ever stopped to think what motivates your investment decisions? For example, do you hold onto a particular stock because you received it as an inheritance and don’t want to sell it? When the market drops, do you find yourself automatically selling all your stocks to protect you from a potential market crash?… Read more
Is There a Better Way to Monitor Financial Success than Measuring Your Net Worth?
Hopefully, as time goes on, your net worth will increase. However, monitoring your liquid net worth may not be the best way to track your financial progress. This is because savings for a real-estate purchase or other large ticket items can skew the picture. Is it really fair to include savings in your net worth when it may already be “spoken for?” If you buy a $30,000 car,… Read more
Risk: Too Little is as Bad as Too Much
In personal finance, risk management is generally thought of as deciding on a stock/bond/cash allocation in your investment portfolio. Think about your tolerance for risk, and then figure out how much money to put in investments that could lose. But you still need to think of more…
Diversification Matters
Consider the risk and return of your career when determining an asset allocation…. Read more