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Why Market Optimism Matters for Successful Investing
It’s pretty easy to succumb to cynicism and pessimism in the current environment. Nearly 60% of people believe the U.S. is on the wrong track. Trust in institutions is at or near all-time lows. Scandals, natural disasters, and mass violence are all too prevalent. If you start to extrapolate that out into the future, your ... Why Market Optimism Matters for Successful Investing
How to Protect Yourself Against Unexpected Retirement
The Boston College Center for Retirement Research published a recent report on retirement age and the factors that contribute to people retiring early. The results were not surprising, although there were some interesting takeaways from the research, especially regarding unexpected retirement.[1] The report on retiring early comes from other economic research, which suggests that many ... How to Protect Yourself Against Unexpected Retirement
Retirement Lifestyle Questionnaire: What Does Retirement Mean to You?
Husbands and wives are often out-of-sync when it comes to retirement because of differing views of how they’d like to spend their time. These differences are not necessarily a problem if you become aware of them ahead of time. To help you get started with this process of envisioning a meaningful retirement, we recommend thinking ... Retirement Lifestyle Questionnaire: What Does Retirement Mean to You?
Market Hits New Highs
The S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite closed at all time highs on April 23rd, marking a significant turnaround from the U.S. stock market’s decline at the end of 2018. The S&P 500 Index closed the day at 2,933.68 and the Nasdaq at 8,120.82. For the year, the S&P 500 Index is now up ... Market Hits New Highs
How much are you willing to lose to achieve your goals?
Academic theory of the financial world is often built upon one main assumption: that people are perfectly rational in making economic decisions and that these rational decisions by individuals help to create a high degree of efficiency in the broader financial markets. Efficient markets work, as the theory goes, because all actors are behaving in ... How much are you willing to lose to achieve your goals?
Why Diversification is Not Always the Answer
The need to diversify is so foundational to financial advice that it can seem absurd to even question it. But sometimes clients question us in ways that have made us rethink the conventional wisdom regarding diversification in finance. Here’s what happened to me. Challenging the Cliché Advice It was sometime in mid-2009 when a colleague ... Why Diversification is Not Always the Answer
Is It A Good Time to Invest in Energy Stocks?
Energy stocks have been some of the weakest performers of the U.S. stock market over the past five years. It’s easy to understand why these stocks have done so poorly in recent history, given significant volatility in the underlying oil market. Following a precipitous drop in the price of oil, which reached a bottom at ... Is It A Good Time to Invest in Energy Stocks?
Preparing for a Recession
For the past ten years, we’ve had a strong bull market in equities; in fact this is one of the longest bull markets in history. That doesn’t mean that it’s been all upside for the past decade. For instance, the S&P 500 Index declined by more than 10% in late January / early February of ... Preparing for a Recession
The Leap of Faith
Growth is an important theme at Brown and Company. We place a tremendous emphasis on hiring great people, utilizing the latest technology to improve efficiency and re-investing back into the client experience. It is through growth that we are able to deliver our best work to our clients. As part of our growth trajectory, we ... The Leap of Faith
What Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs Both Said 20 Years Ago
It is not uncommon to see old video footage of Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos on social media. We’re all interested in what these influential leaders of two of the most iconic companies in the world have had to say. What is unusual is to see both of them say nearly the exact same thing ... What Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs Both Said 20 Years Ago
Multiple Income Streams in Retirement: Putting Together All of the Puzzle Pieces
A common fact pattern for our clients is that they will have multiple income streams when they stop working. Social Security benefits, private pensions, annuity payments, income from real estate holdings, income from private equity and mineral royalty checks: these sources of income will often play a vital role in creating a successful long-term plan ... Multiple Income Streams in Retirement: Putting Together All of the Puzzle Pieces
5 Key Questions for Business Owners
Sir Edmund Hillary is widely known as the first man to have climbed Mount Everest. Hillary and his companion Tenzing Norgay reached the peak in 1953. There is some controversy, however, that another man named George Mallory was actually the first to reach the summit. Mallory’s climb occurred nearly 30 years earlier, but was never confirmed ... 5 Key Questions for Business Owners