Last week, the investing world lost a giant – Daniel Kahneman. A psychologist at Princeton University and winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, Kahneman may well have had more influence on investing than anyone else who was not a professional investor. Jason Zweig wrote a lovely tribute to Kahneman in his WSJ column. Check… Continue reading →

A lot of money can be left on the table when retirees collect Social Security too early. Read on about a recent study that illustrates why it pays to wait. Source: The Wall Street Journal Feb. 18, 2023. The High Price Retirees Pay for Collecting Social Security Too Early A study suggests that many retirees… Continue reading →

Ask 100 people what they want from a financial advisor and nearly all would say, “Um, advice?” Too bad that’s not what most financial advisors do. In fact, most are not even qualified to give advice. Sure, they take exams to be licensed as advisors. But those exams are not designed to test knowledge of… Continue reading →

A couple of years ago, I spent an inordinate amount of my time on Capitol Hill talking to lawmakers about a new investment rule in the works designed to expose hidden fees charged by stock brokers. Called the fiduciary rule, it was meant to protect the millions of Americans who rely on a financial advisor… Continue reading →

Nearly 10 years ago, iconic billionaire investor Warren Buffett took what seemed like a contrarian bet for a professional stock picker. He bet any comer that a simple, low-cost investment in the S&P 500 would beat a hedge fund strategy over 10 years. On the line was $1 million, to be paid to a charity… Continue reading →

A new study of our innate human biases reinforces the value of diversification when it comes to stock investing. Short version: We just can’t help ourselves when we think we know something. Scientists call this confirmation bias, the unconscious way we seek out information that proves we are “right” about closely held ideas. The problem is… Continue reading →

An interesting new analysis of the retirement business points out that, more than ever, people are stepping away from trading and into automated, low-cost portfolios. Three cheers for that, we say, but it raises an interesting question. Once you retire, should you stay in your set-it-and-forget-it company plan or do something different? How does “investing… Continue reading →

A friend of mine was complaining recently about the price of apples, specifically a variety marketed as a “Honeycrisp” apple. He would go to the grocery store to buy a bag of apples and find Honeycrisps at $7.99 a three-pound bag. Right next to them would be Gala apples at $3.99. “Why are Honeycrisp apples… Continue reading →

Back in the 1980s, stock picking gurus such as Peter Lynch at Fidelity offered small investors a strikingly simple mantra: “Invest in what you know.” The idea was intuitive and highly attractive for a number of reasons. Essentially, if you noticed a small coffee chain with a line out the door, you bought that stock.… Continue reading →