Well, technically it was in April, but we can still celebrate the good news this month. Vanguard is at it again, quickly following up Christmas in February. They have announced another round of cuts to expense ratios and shareholders win again. Here’s a look at the new rates for this round, there’s a good chance you own a handful of these if you’re a client: Cheers!
Mr. Money’s Misguided Mustache
A few weeks ago, the unofficial king of the do-it-yourself, financial-independence/retire-early investing crowd, Pete Adeney, AKA Mr. Money Mustache, updated his post on his Lending Club “experiment.” I’ve been a vocal critic of Pete’s because I feel the influence he commands with his blog has led him to be a bit slimy. Long story short, Pete sets up affiliate marketing relationships with the products he recommends and in turn he makes a shitload of money from his blog ($400,000 per year) when people sign up for these products or view ads. My beef with him got started after Lending Club was revealed to have acted to defraud its investors (they lied about the loans they sold to institutional investors and also had …
Movie Ratings and Portfolio Management
They’re more similar than you think. Whenever I watch a movie or get into a TV show, I inevitably end up thinking about how I’d rate it. I also inevitably end up annoying my soon-to-be-wife by forcing her to rate it, too (sorry!). But in pure nerd fashion, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the best system to rate movies and shows. A 3-star system? 4-star? 5-star? Scale of 10? I’ve settled on a 4-star scale – here’s why, how it relates to investing and how it likely trickles down to your portfolio if you’re a client. It should be noted that half stars are tempting but should always be fiercely denied by all reviewers. Moving on… The …
Citizen Kane’s Investing Mantra
In 2001, Jack White “borrowed” the lyrics for The White Stripes song “The Union Forever” from the highly regarded film Citizen Kane. Warner Bros famously threatened a lawsuit in 2003. Little did he know, by refreshing one particular quote White resurfaced a great, if not obscure, piece of investing advice. Picture it as an investor self-talking down their own inner demons: “Well, I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in gold mines, oil wells, shipping or real estate.” A resourceful YouTuber created a mashup of The White Stripes song with clips of Citizen Kane, and I’ve started it at the relevant passage below: What’s my point? It’s simple: the percentage of people who are stock market tinkerers — read: uninformed, woefully inept — is shockingly large. …
BDGT
Everyone’s favorite four letter word – budget! – strikes fear into the hearts of even the most nerdy. Only a small percentage of the population embraces budgeting and usually it involves a weird combination of cash and envelopes. This isn’t a call to join the envelopers. I’m with the rest of the world: I don’t like budgeting. I don’t recommend people create rigid budgets. I do recommend, however, that people do a reasonable assessment of their annual spending. A no-BS assessment, to be perfectly clear. It’s not a “budget” in the sense that it involves painful decisions or spending cuts. This is an assessment of how much it costs to live your life. Not how you’d like to live, …