AUTHOR: Steve Spinella on 8/17/2025 FIRST: Richard Hayman on 8/17/2025 | RECENT: David Powell on 8/31/2025
Comments
My son tells me this sort of thinking--"leverage is good"--pervades his young, rich, and smart peer group. (He works for one of those companies we've all heard about.) I know my thoughts in this regard are of little value and even less respect for that peer group. They are, after all, younger and smarter.
If they had ears to hear, though, I would talk about the selective bias in storytelling, since those who don't survive do not tell their stories, and stories of loss are less exciting than stories of risk followed by reward.
Since they are young, smart, and rich, they have the opportunity to choose security, yet risk sits at the door and flashes enticing glimpses of an even more wonderful life, no matter how wonderful life already is.
If that was once you and something helped you, what was it? I was one of those looking on and thinking I do not have the luxury of making such foolish choices if I am going to survive and live well in my own situation.
I am grateful I am rich and secure enough to worry about someone stealing my assets. Thanks for starting this discussion, Ben! (Is the alternative to be poor enough to only worry about stealing someone else's assets? Is the messy middle both or neither?!)
Here is another reason not to save up HSA expenses--I would think they are an auditable item in the year you reimburse them. If you reimburse them right along, there is not such a huge audit risk in any particular year, and the audit risk rolls off a bit year by year as the 3 year and 7 year windows pass.
Someone once said they wouldn't join a club that would let them be a member. I feel the same way about advisors and wealth managers for people who have less than 10 million invested. At some point the portfolio gets big enough that it's quite reasonable to hire someone to manage it--under your supervision, because it would be foolish not to supervise such a manager.
I cringe every time I hear the term "smartvestor pro."
I tend to agree that many people confuse volatility and risk. The risk that something will change in price by 20% is quite different than the risk it will become worthless. Bad debt is worthless. Distressed assets are still assets.
And distressed assets can become just like bad debt when someone else pledges them for cash. Sears in the hands of Eddie Lampert is the poster child for how it can be done! What I find emotionally hard is to sell low so that I can focus those funds on better opportunities. I try to convince myself to do it anyway and deal with my emotions as a separate issue.
I don't want to be greedy or obsessed, but I am very glad I am not still making all the mistakes I have in the past. I think I am more drawn to continual learning than satisfiction. What will I learn today?
It has been so helpful to have a summary of investments across accounts through the Schwab web interface. This includes investments at other brokerages. Other brokers, including Fidelity, offer similar tools, but I'm not as familiar with them.
As far as investing, I rank the accounts according to tax status and life expectancy, and make transactions according to that ranking when possible.
It surprises me that the brokerages do not do a better job providing interfaces for managing multiple accounts as one portfolio, but this topical discussion is showing me it is perhaps not as common as I assume it would be.
In answer to your specific question, I currently have accounts at Schwab, Fidelity, Chase, Vanguard, Merrill Lynch/BoA, and two local credit unions. I have listed them here in order of ease of use/quality of service as I experience them.
Schwab and Fidelity are very competitive, but have slightly different strengths. I think people less familiar with financial services might find Fidelity's hand holding better while others might find Schwab's procedures more efficient and requiring less patience to navigate. I have observed a lot of changes in the last decade in both regards--better hand holding and more efficient procedures at both these top providers as well as across the industry.
Unsurprisingly, Chase is the best at providing banking services in my experience. Bank of America is also good at that, but Chase if much more available in some parts of the US including here in Colorado, where BoA has just begun to show up. Earlier this week a credit union branch manager told me they were hoping the merger of their large regional CU with another large regional CU would lead to their being able to provide better services like I was used to at the ones listed earlier in the list. They are all working hard to come up with ways to provide more services, so sales resistance is also a must, and the ones higher on this list are often the best at that as well.
Thanks for these comments. Before reading this article, I was having a hard time imagining why any thoughtful person would prefer MFs over ETFs. Now I understand a bit better.
I prefer ETFs because of their transparency compared to MFs, but now I can see that for some MFs are easier to deal with, not to mention that they've been around longer and Vanguard used a patent to protect their early to market advantage for a long time.
I suspect financial education is often a bit like premarital counseling. As a pastor and a Marriage and Family Therapist, I've done my share of that, and I'm convinced that almost no one who wants to get married can seriously contemplate all the hard challenges, much less address them in advance.
It's probably also a bit like teaching the high school football team about CTE caused by repeated subconcussive blows to the head, concussions, and falls. It might be helpful, but good luck!
Comments
My son tells me this sort of thinking--"leverage is good"--pervades his young, rich, and smart peer group. (He works for one of those companies we've all heard about.) I know my thoughts in this regard are of little value and even less respect for that peer group. They are, after all, younger and smarter. If they had ears to hear, though, I would talk about the selective bias in storytelling, since those who don't survive do not tell their stories, and stories of loss are less exciting than stories of risk followed by reward. Since they are young, smart, and rich, they have the opportunity to choose security, yet risk sits at the door and flashes enticing glimpses of an even more wonderful life, no matter how wonderful life already is. If that was once you and something helped you, what was it? I was one of those looking on and thinking I do not have the luxury of making such foolish choices if I am going to survive and live well in my own situation.
Post: Modest Leverage for Young Investors
Link to comment from December 20, 2025
I am grateful I am rich and secure enough to worry about someone stealing my assets. Thanks for starting this discussion, Ben! (Is the alternative to be poor enough to only worry about stealing someone else's assets? Is the messy middle both or neither?!)
Post: Can we be completely safe?
Link to comment from December 20, 2025
Here is another reason not to save up HSA expenses--I would think they are an auditable item in the year you reimburse them. If you reimburse them right along, there is not such a huge audit risk in any particular year, and the audit risk rolls off a bit year by year as the 3 year and 7 year windows pass.
Post: HSA Proposal
Link to comment from December 2, 2025
Someone once said they wouldn't join a club that would let them be a member. I feel the same way about advisors and wealth managers for people who have less than 10 million invested. At some point the portfolio gets big enough that it's quite reasonable to hire someone to manage it--under your supervision, because it would be foolish not to supervise such a manager. I cringe every time I hear the term "smartvestor pro."
Post: Does My Sister Need a Financial Advisor?
Link to comment from November 8, 2025
I tend to agree that many people confuse volatility and risk. The risk that something will change in price by 20% is quite different than the risk it will become worthless. Bad debt is worthless. Distressed assets are still assets. And distressed assets can become just like bad debt when someone else pledges them for cash. Sears in the hands of Eddie Lampert is the poster child for how it can be done! What I find emotionally hard is to sell low so that I can focus those funds on better opportunities. I try to convince myself to do it anyway and deal with my emotions as a separate issue.
Post: The rules we didn’t follow
Link to comment from November 3, 2025
I don't want to be greedy or obsessed, but I am very glad I am not still making all the mistakes I have in the past. I think I am more drawn to continual learning than satisfiction. What will I learn today?
Post: Optimizer or Satisficer?
Link to comment from November 3, 2025
It has been so helpful to have a summary of investments across accounts through the Schwab web interface. This includes investments at other brokerages. Other brokers, including Fidelity, offer similar tools, but I'm not as familiar with them. As far as investing, I rank the accounts according to tax status and life expectancy, and make transactions according to that ranking when possible. It surprises me that the brokerages do not do a better job providing interfaces for managing multiple accounts as one portfolio, but this topical discussion is showing me it is perhaps not as common as I assume it would be.
Post: How do Couples Rebalance with Multiple Accounts
Link to comment from November 3, 2025
In answer to your specific question, I currently have accounts at Schwab, Fidelity, Chase, Vanguard, Merrill Lynch/BoA, and two local credit unions. I have listed them here in order of ease of use/quality of service as I experience them. Schwab and Fidelity are very competitive, but have slightly different strengths. I think people less familiar with financial services might find Fidelity's hand holding better while others might find Schwab's procedures more efficient and requiring less patience to navigate. I have observed a lot of changes in the last decade in both regards--better hand holding and more efficient procedures at both these top providers as well as across the industry. Unsurprisingly, Chase is the best at providing banking services in my experience. Bank of America is also good at that, but Chase if much more available in some parts of the US including here in Colorado, where BoA has just begun to show up. Earlier this week a credit union branch manager told me they were hoping the merger of their large regional CU with another large regional CU would lead to their being able to provide better services like I was used to at the ones listed earlier in the list. They are all working hard to come up with ways to provide more services, so sales resistance is also a must, and the ones higher on this list are often the best at that as well.
Post: Disappointed (and annoyed) with Vanguard.
Link to comment from October 25, 2025
Thanks for these comments. Before reading this article, I was having a hard time imagining why any thoughtful person would prefer MFs over ETFs. Now I understand a bit better. I prefer ETFs because of their transparency compared to MFs, but now I can see that for some MFs are easier to deal with, not to mention that they've been around longer and Vanguard used a patent to protect their early to market advantage for a long time.
Post: Mutual Funds Vs. ETFs Which do you prefer and Why?
Link to comment from October 25, 2025
I suspect financial education is often a bit like premarital counseling. As a pastor and a Marriage and Family Therapist, I've done my share of that, and I'm convinced that almost no one who wants to get married can seriously contemplate all the hard challenges, much less address them in advance. It's probably also a bit like teaching the high school football team about CTE caused by repeated subconcussive blows to the head, concussions, and falls. It might be helpful, but good luck!
Post: Financial Education in Middle and High School
Link to comment from October 25, 2025