If you try to keep up with the Joneses, you’ll fall ever further behind your unpretentious neighbors with the seven-figure portfolio.
JORDAN PETERSON, a Canadian clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto, has thundered onto the cultural scene, thanks in large part to his book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. I began reading with healthy skepticism, but quickly became a fan.
Not that the doctor and I agree on all points. But the book immediately confronted my intellectual laziness in a careful but unavoidable way.
PICKING WINNING stocks seems so easy—and yet most investors fail miserably. Why? Partly, it’s the nature of the stock market, with its fierce competition, unavoidable trading costs and gains skewed toward a minority of shares. But partly, it’s the emotional pitfalls that trip up all too many investors. I pull together these various threads in my latest article for Creative Planning—and offer eight reasons the apparently easy money so often proves elusive.
Follow Jonathan on Twitter @ClementsMoney and on Facebook.
I AM NOT an investment expert. I am befuddled by such things as puts and calls. Who is putting what where?
I do know the difference between stocks and bonds. I know that bond prices go up when interest rates go down, and vice versa, and I eventually figured out why. I also know stock markets are used to raise capital and that shareholders are actually owners of a company, but with little power or influence,
JORDAN PETERSON, a Canadian clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto, has thundered onto the cultural scene, thanks in large part to his book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. I began reading with healthy skepticism, but quickly became a fan.
Not that the doctor and I agree on all points. But the book immediately confronted my intellectual laziness in a careful but unavoidable way.
PICKING WINNING stocks seems so easy—and yet most investors fail miserably. Why? Partly, it’s the nature of the stock market, with its fierce competition, unavoidable trading costs and gains skewed toward a minority of shares. But partly, it’s the emotional pitfalls that trip up all too many investors. I pull together these various threads in my latest article for Creative Planning—and offer eight reasons the apparently easy money so often proves elusive.
Follow Jonathan on Twitter @ClementsMoney and on Facebook.
I AM NOT an investment expert. I am befuddled by such things as puts and calls. Who is putting what where?
I do know the difference between stocks and bonds. I know that bond prices go up when interest rates go down, and vice versa, and I eventually figured out why. I also know stock markets are used to raise capital and that shareholders are actually owners of a company, but with little power or influence,
AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS SPENT an average $60,060 in 2017, with 33% going toward housing and 16% toward their cars and other transportation costs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
NO. 79: PAYING ZERO TAXES is a terrible waste. If you lose your job, or you just retired and aren’t yet tapping your retirement accounts, you may have a year with little or no taxable income. To take advantage of your low tax bracket, consider selling winning taxable-account investments or converting part of your IRA to a Roth.
NO. 79: PAYING ZERO TAXES is a terrible waste. If you lose your job, or you just retired and aren’t yet tapping your retirement accounts, you may have a year with little or no taxable income. To take advantage of your low tax bracket, consider selling winning taxable-account investments or converting part of your IRA to a Roth.
BUY THE BIG THREE. The global market portfolio consists of four major sectors, roughly equal in size: U.S. stocks, U.S. bonds, foreign shares and foreign bonds. Arguably, foreign bonds are optional, offering modest yields but wild currency swings. The other three sectors, however, are crucial to a diversified portfolio. Do you have enough exposure to all three?
INTRINSIC VALUE. It’s easy to get caught up in the stock market’s wild price swings. Feeling unnerved? Never forget that behind those price swings are companies of great value. While you can’t put a precise figure on their intrinsic value, you can get a sense by examining the profits they earn, the dividends they pay and the value of the assets they own.
YOU’RE UNLIKELY to get the right answers—unless you ask the right questions.
That’s especially true when it comes to managing money. We have answers thrust in our faces all the time, as marketers and salespeople exhort us to buy this mutual fund, that car, this stock, that home and this insurance policy.
But are these really what we want or need? It’s hard to know unless we ask the right questions. There’s ample evidence that many folks end up with financial products they don’t need and spend money in ways that bring little or no happiness.
Jonathan Clements is the founder and editor of HumbleDollar. He spent almost two decades at The Wall Street Journal, where he was the personal finance columnist. His new book is now available: From Here to Financial Happiness.
Jonathan Clements is the founder and editor of HumbleDollar. He spent almost two decades at The Wall Street Journal, where he was the personal finance columnist. His new book is now available: From Here to Financial Happiness.
YOU’RE UNLIKELY to get the right answers—unless you ask the right questions.
That’s especially true when it comes to managing money. We have answers thrust in our faces all the time, as marketers and salespeople exhort us to buy this mutual fund, that car, this stock, that home and this insurance policy.
But are these really what we want or need? It’s hard to know unless we ask the right questions. There’s ample evidence that many folks end up with financial products they don’t need and spend money in ways that bring little or no happiness.