‘Because I said so‘ is the easy answer as a parent but rarely the best response. It's one I swore as a kid I'd never use when I grew up, but I do. The investing version of this time-saving shortcut, “Because I said so investing,” is allocating based on headlines—something we all know we shouldn’t do, but that proves tempting... Read More
I had a high school physics teacher who told me more than once, “always be true to your convictions, but prepared to abandon your assumptions.” At Cordant, we have a conviction for helping our clients make smart financial decisions and working with them to keep their financial lives on track. A key component in helping them make smart financial decisions... Read More
Almost every client has asked some version of this question and addressing it is an important part of what we do as financial advisors. To do that, we need a model, which we call your Baseline Financial Plan. Like any model, it’s only as reliable as the inputs. “Garbage in, garbage out” as the saying goes. Our model (your baseline... Read More
Last weekend the Wall Street Journal had a short article titled Beware of Winging Your Retirement that emphasized giving thought to the non-financial aspects of retirement before reaching this major milestone. The upside to those who envisioned and planned for their future? Greater life satisfaction. From the article: But in talking with and hearing from hundreds of retirees through the... Read More
As any engineer can tell you, sensitivity and stress testing are important tools in determining how a system can fail and therefore, determining the safe usage for that system. When it comes to your financial life, it should be no different. Stress testing your financial plan is an important exercise in determining the health of your wealth. While this a... Read More
If it bleeds, it leads. ~Joe Loder in Nightcrawler Margin debt recently hit an all-time high—$528 billion as of February month end. But, by another measure, margin debt divided by underlying assets, it’s actually at a lower level than it was in February 2009—the start of the market recovery from the global financial crises. So, how concerned should you be... Read More
Over the last three calendar years, Global stocks (MSCI All Country World Index - ACWI) have returned a meager 3.7% annualized leading some to question their investment approach. Large market moves up are obviously fun, and even big moves down are often easier to ride out (at least you can see something happening) than a sideways markets. It’s extended periods of... Read More
We received a couple of questions on our recent post “How to Increase Retirement Wealth With the Right Withdrawal Order” and will address the first one here. (Note: as we mentioned earlier this year, we will be making an effort to address more reader questions on the blog this year, so, if you have questions send them in.) The question... Read More
We know that time doesn’t slow down for anyone, but it’s hard to believe we are already more than two months into 2017. Now that you have settled into the year and have hopefully made some headway on your resolutions, it’s time to get serious about making your finances a priority for the rest of the year. As you reflect... Read More
With #OscarGate squarely in our rear-view mirror, Hollywood can now resume their "normal" lives, and the rest of us can only speculate how the singular moment in the world's most popular award show was botched by someone in the financial services industry. Talk about bizarre. While I'd like to use this space to poke fun at the rich and famous in... Read More
