When winning is losing. An exciting part of helping people with their portfolios is seeing what kind of BS they’ve been stuck with, and then reversing it immediately. Usually, the most common culprits are high-fee funds with fancy names. This week produced an all-time worst. Behold, Legg Mason’s QS Global Market Neutral Fund. Ticker: LNFIX. This particular younger client was stuck with this fund comprising 100% of two different IRAs they own, likely because it was very profitable for someone to do so, and the expense ratio is, get ready for it… No, I don’t think you’re ready yet… Have you grabbed a paper bag in anticipation of hyperventilating?… Get one. Take a deep breath… Grip the bag and put …
Fintech Saved Me from a Huge Headache Today
Financial technology isn’t so bad, after all. Earlier this morning my phone buzzed, as it tends to do excessively. This notification, however, wasn’t just another headline about another Mariners player hitting the DL. This time it was a heads up from the app of my credit card company that a $0.99 transaction had been made on my card. The source of that charge was a big red flag: It was from iTunes. If you know me at all then you’ll know I’m a huge Google Kool-Aid drinker so something from iTunes rings all kind of alarm bells. I quickly logged into my account and disputed the charge and put a freeze on the account. I then notified Citi who recommended …
Let’s Play an Annuity Game, Payout Start Date Edition
Not to be confused with Let’s Needlessly Tinker with and Damage the Global Economy with Random Tariffs game. QUICK: You have 20 seconds to read the Payout Start Date description below while assuming you yourself have owned the annuity since the 1990s. QUESTION: Can you begin payout now? 3… 2… 1… Pencils Down. Stumped, like I was? Now, maybe I’m just a little dense, but this passage seems extremely confusing and hard to understand. I had to read it multiple times to get a handle on what was possible. To be honest, I’m still only about 95% sure what it’s saying. I can’t get over how hilariously sad (sadly hilarious?) the phrase “on or before the later of” is. How …
Let’s Critique Another Seattle Times Money Makeover
The Bad CD Advice Edition. This violation isn’t as bad as the last one, so it’s got that going for it (which is nice). This week’s “Money Makeover” in the Seattle Times is, overall, pretty harmless. I think the planners provided reasonable recommendations and the subject will likely be better off if she abides by the prescription. But there’s just that one part. It’s like when you see a single small chunk of your car that you missed when you washed it in the driveway. Once you notice it you can’t look away, and you must blog about it. This week’s subject was Morgan, a unicorn, er, a Millennial with no debt, no credit card, and lives within her means. …
When Does Portfolio Management Become Portfolio Mismanagement?
“I know it when I see it,” and I’ve seen it in The Seattle Times. Let’s start with some background. Portfolio management is not a science, despite the profession’s diligent and extremely lucrative attempt to prove otherwise. In fact, “portfolio management as a science” has probably been the driving factor behind the biggest transfer of wealth known to mankind; the flow of money from ignorant investors to the pockets of high-fee fund managers. Can you really blame either party? For decades, we’ve seen the brightest minds of graduating classes across the country make their pilgrimage to Wall Street to reap the benefits of sitting behind very expensive desks, pretending to apply scientific rigor and a repeatable process to what is actually …