Understanding Financial Risk
Financial risk doesn’t just mean market volatility. There are many types of risk that can impact your long-term plan, including: Longevity risk — outliving your savings Inflation risk — losing…
Reframing the Retirement Question
The traditional question in financial planning has been: 'Will I run out of money?' But that’s not the most useful way to think about retirement. Instead, we prefer to ask:…
The Fourth Bubble
We believe the next big risk is a new kind of bubble: the bond bubble. Many investors have shifted to bonds and dividend stocks, seeking yield in a low-interest-rate environment.…
Protect, Detect, Correct
We often borrow from outside industries to describe our philosophy. One advertising slogan from Intel’s cybersecurity business — 'Protect, Detect, Correct' — perfectly describes our approach to portfolio management. PROTECT…
Compounding & the 1,000% Question
There are numerous investment approaches available for long-term growth. Some aim for lower volatility and accept lower returns — about 5% annually. Others embrace market indexes, which historically return ~10%…
Confidence in the Year Ahead
We are looking forward to 2016 in spite of the inauspicious start of the year. There are three major reasons for our optimism: the FED actions, our investment model adjustments,…
Tax Loss Selling & Year-End Strategy
As the year wraps up, we’re reviewing portfolios for tax loss selling opportunities. This strategy can reduce your tax bill while positioning your portfolio for future growth. If appropriate, we…
Finding the Dividend Sweet Spot
The Sweet Spot… Dividends are an important input to four of our portfolio formulas. Dividend payers can be divided into thirds. Those companies in the low and no dividend third…
Pipelines & Market Misunderstanding
Natural Gas Pipelines Supply… On the supply side there is an abundance of natural gas. New technologies are increasing the success rate of drilling, and the size of discoveries. Also,…
Long-Term Focus Over Fear
Recent market volatility has caused many investors to feel rattled. While the headlines may sound scary, it’s important to take a long-term view. Here’s what we know: Markets experience corrections…
Staying Safe Amid Market Noise
It’s easy to get caught up in market noise — headlines, predictions, economic data, and sentiment swings. Our job is to help you stay focused on the long-term, avoid the…
Quality Over Growth
Over the last year we have been rebalancing portfolios to overweight high quality companies. This has included increasing or establishing positions in businesses with wide moats, clean balance sheets, high…