When you get tired of watching the squirrels and birds fight for the food, I suggest you try bird feed that is laced with cayenne, or some other hot spice. The birds love it and the squirrels try it once and don't return.
Bravo Jonathan! I can't wait to share this post with our readers. At almost 80 I have struggled to slow down. Over 10 years ago I promised my wife I would never work for money again. While I have kept my promise, I have never worked harder. This article gave me lots to think about. I spoke at the recent White Coat Investor Conference in Phoenix. There were about 600 participants live and hundreds more via the internet. Many I spoke with were fans of your work. I hope you find a pace of work that allows you to continue until you are very old. One meaty article a month would even be meaningful to those of us who are trying to find the right balance of asset classes in our portfolio. the right balance of helping others and helping ourselves and finally the right balance of spending now and leaving for others. Finding the right balance at each fork of the road is tricky business. Thanks for giving the topic thoughtful consideration.
Terrific work Bill. Your story will be an inspiration to a lot of others sitting at the crossroads of one of the biggest decisions we will ever make. We will share your story with our subscribers as well.
I agree with you in large part but there are cases where they make sense. For people who have under saved and are not appropriate for the stock market the single premium life annuity is a good choice. The challenge is getting the education to make the decision. Stan the Annuity Man offers a free library of books on the subject. Also, Stan and other suppliers offer the comparison of many different insurance companies without having to talk to a salesperson. https://www.stantheannuityman.com
Hi Andrew, It was new to me too. But it explained why it was so hard to find the balance of good news and bad I expected to find in the case of some very controversial advisors.
Yes, finding a good hourly advisor is work. I am going to address the topic in a Zoom meeting on April 7. Do it yourself vs. private management is a huge decision, as is hourly vs. percentage of assets. Robo advisors serve a good role but I have strong beliefs about which ones are likely to produce the best returns. Here is a link to those who are interested. https://bainbridgecf.org/programs/public-education-programs
I'm very happy to be working with Jonathan Clements. I consider him one of the "Truth-Tellers" in our industry. Here is what we expect from equal weighted index funds. Because the equal weighted portfolio has the same amount of money invested in each company, in periods when large growth companies make more than smaller companies, the market weighted index will do better. When smaller companies, or value companies, do better we would expect the equal weighted portfolio to do better. In the long run we expect small and value to make more than large and growth so we might expect the equal weighted portfolio to make more. But as we know from the last 93 years, there are lots of long periods of time where large growth does better than small value and investors with short term goals can become impatient. We recommend using different asset classes in building a portfolio rather than trying to get the right balance within one fund. Here is what we know over the last 90 plus years. A portfolio of 25% each S&P 500, large cap value, small cap blend and small cap value adds about 2% a year to the return with less volatility based on decade returns. These quilt charts tell the history beautifully.
Of course Edward Jones has a legitimate reason to exist. Our educational foundation is designed to give information to investors who wish to keep the extra costs of managing a fund in their own pocket rather than someone on Wall Street. We know that every additional .5% return can lead to an extra million dollars over a lifetime. With that in mind we want the do it yourself investor to capture that extra return. It is easy to do that. It means getting rid of loads, getting rid of high operating expenses, getting rid of turnover costs from active management, getting rid of extra taxes in taxable accounts and, for some, it means adding equity asset classes that have a very long history of paying a higher premium. The work we do is not focused on estate planning, tax planning, insurance planning and the many areas of help that a financial planner offers. We are only teachers, not advisors. But, when people need those kinds of help we are in favor of using hourly help as opposed to someone charging a percentage of the portfolio's value. I do know from experience that the best result is likely to come from investors who are exposed to information that is totally in their best interest. I do not advocate information sources that offer advice without disclosing the long impact of their recommendations. Having said all that, if an investor is a good saver and uses an advisor who produces reasonable returns the investor will probably be okay. My hope is our advice will lead to an earlier retirement, living off more in retirement and leaving more to children and charities. I do this all without any compensation. Of course, bad free advice is not a bargain. It is up to the reader to make that judgement whether what we, or anyone else writes, is in their best interest. I encourage you to get a free copy of "We're Talking Millions!" at paulmerriman.com/signup.
Comments:
When you get tired of watching the squirrels and birds fight for the food, I suggest you try bird feed that is laced with cayenne, or some other hot spice. The birds love it and the squirrels try it once and don't return.
Post: Our Money Pit
Link to comment from January 20, 2024
Bravo Jonathan! I can't wait to share this post with our readers. At almost 80 I have struggled to slow down. Over 10 years ago I promised my wife I would never work for money again. While I have kept my promise, I have never worked harder. This article gave me lots to think about. I spoke at the recent White Coat Investor Conference in Phoenix. There were about 600 participants live and hundreds more via the internet. Many I spoke with were fans of your work. I hope you find a pace of work that allows you to continue until you are very old. One meaty article a month would even be meaningful to those of us who are trying to find the right balance of asset classes in our portfolio. the right balance of helping others and helping ourselves and finally the right balance of spending now and leaving for others. Finding the right balance at each fork of the road is tricky business. Thanks for giving the topic thoughtful consideration.
Post: The Other Enough
Link to comment from March 11, 2023
Terrific work Bill. Your story will be an inspiration to a lot of others sitting at the crossroads of one of the biggest decisions we will ever make. We will share your story with our subscribers as well.
Post: Saving Our Retirement
Link to comment from February 1, 2023
I agree with you in large part but there are cases where they make sense. For people who have under saved and are not appropriate for the stock market the single premium life annuity is a good choice. The challenge is getting the education to make the decision. Stan the Annuity Man offers a free library of books on the subject. Also, Stan and other suppliers offer the comparison of many different insurance companies without having to talk to a salesperson. https://www.stantheannuityman.com
Post: Low-Cost Protection
Link to comment from March 17, 2022
Hi Andrew, It was new to me too. But it explained why it was so hard to find the balance of good news and bad I expected to find in the case of some very controversial advisors.
Post: Low-Cost Protection
Link to comment from March 17, 2022
Yes, finding a good hourly advisor is work. I am going to address the topic in a Zoom meeting on April 7. Do it yourself vs. private management is a huge decision, as is hourly vs. percentage of assets. Robo advisors serve a good role but I have strong beliefs about which ones are likely to produce the best returns. Here is a link to those who are interested. https://bainbridgecf.org/programs/public-education-programs
Post: Low-Cost Protection
Link to comment from March 17, 2022
I'm very happy to be working with Jonathan Clements. I consider him one of the "Truth-Tellers" in our industry. Here is what we expect from equal weighted index funds. Because the equal weighted portfolio has the same amount of money invested in each company, in periods when large growth companies make more than smaller companies, the market weighted index will do better. When smaller companies, or value companies, do better we would expect the equal weighted portfolio to do better. In the long run we expect small and value to make more than large and growth so we might expect the equal weighted portfolio to make more. But as we know from the last 93 years, there are lots of long periods of time where large growth does better than small value and investors with short term goals can become impatient. We recommend using different asset classes in building a portfolio rather than trying to get the right balance within one fund. Here is what we know over the last 90 plus years. A portfolio of 25% each S&P 500, large cap value, small cap blend and small cap value adds about 2% a year to the return with less volatility based on decade returns. These quilt charts tell the history beautifully.
Post: Low-Cost Protection
Link to comment from March 17, 2022
Of course Edward Jones has a legitimate reason to exist. Our educational foundation is designed to give information to investors who wish to keep the extra costs of managing a fund in their own pocket rather than someone on Wall Street. We know that every additional .5% return can lead to an extra million dollars over a lifetime. With that in mind we want the do it yourself investor to capture that extra return. It is easy to do that. It means getting rid of loads, getting rid of high operating expenses, getting rid of turnover costs from active management, getting rid of extra taxes in taxable accounts and, for some, it means adding equity asset classes that have a very long history of paying a higher premium. The work we do is not focused on estate planning, tax planning, insurance planning and the many areas of help that a financial planner offers. We are only teachers, not advisors. But, when people need those kinds of help we are in favor of using hourly help as opposed to someone charging a percentage of the portfolio's value. I do know from experience that the best result is likely to come from investors who are exposed to information that is totally in their best interest. I do not advocate information sources that offer advice without disclosing the long impact of their recommendations. Having said all that, if an investor is a good saver and uses an advisor who produces reasonable returns the investor will probably be okay. My hope is our advice will lead to an earlier retirement, living off more in retirement and leaving more to children and charities. I do this all without any compensation. Of course, bad free advice is not a bargain. It is up to the reader to make that judgement whether what we, or anyone else writes, is in their best interest. I encourage you to get a free copy of "We're Talking Millions!" at paulmerriman.com/signup.
Post: Low-Cost Protection
Link to comment from March 17, 2022