Ever since the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, when the correlation of all risky assets rose toward 1, investors have been hearing that because of globalization, the world has become flat and the benefits of diversification are gone. The explanation is generally that the world market has become more integrated and financial markets more globalized….
Women face all the same issues that men face in retirement, plus they have additional complicating factors. Larry Swedroe and Katie Keary address these factors and offer tips to help even the scales. Find it on Kiplinger.com By clicking on any of the links above, you acknowledge that they are solely for your convenience, and…
Every year, the markets provide us with lessons on the prudent investment strategy. I’ve so far covered what they taught us in 2018 in lessons one through three and then lessons four through seven. We’ll finish up today with lessons eight through 11. Lesson 8: Inflation wasn’t, and isn’t, inevitable. One of the most persistently asked questions I’ve…
Every year, the markets provide us with lessons on the prudent investment strategy. Earlier this week, I covered lessons one through three. Today, I’ll tackle lessons four through seven. Lesson 4: Volatility doesn’t stay low forever. Your discipline will be tested. While the VIX’s long-term average has been about 20, we entered 2018 with the Volatility…
Every year, the markets provide us with lessons on the prudent investment strategy. Many times, markets offer investors remedial courses, covering lessons it taught in previous years. That’s why one of my favorite sayings is that “there’s nothing new in investing, only investment history you don’t yet know.” 2018 supplied 11 important lessons. As you…
In a look at the historical data on stock returns following periods of negative performance, Jared Kizer explores why revisiting the market’s longer-term properties can help put last quarter’s volatility into broader context. From March 2009 through September 2018 — a period encompassing almost 10 years and the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis —…
There’s always something to worry about when it comes to the stock market, but panic selling all-too-often ends in disaster. That, Larry Swedroe writes, is why it’s so crucial for investors to have a prudent, well-thought-out financial plan in place. As the director of research for Buckingham Strategic Wealth and The BAM Alliance, whenever markets…
New report, same old story. Larry Swedroe unpacks highlights from the most recent SPIVA scorecard that offer still more powerful evidence of active management’s continued failure to persistently outperform. Since 2002, S&P Dow Jones Indices has published its biannual Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) reports, which compare the performance of actively managed equity funds to their appropriate index…
Given their long underperformance relative to U.S. stocks, some investors may be questioning whether it makes sense to own international equities. Jared Kizer looks at five reasons why you should remain committed to a globally diversified approach. Since the financial crisis of 2008, U.S. equities have earned substantially higher returns than international equities. Ken French’s…
Some active mutual funds have prospectus benchmarks that understate risk and, thus, overstate relative performance. Larry Swedroe unpacks a study that explores how such funds benefit from that overstatement at investors’ expense. Evaluating the performance of actively managed mutual funds generally involves comparing a product’s results with some passive benchmark (the SEC requires that funds…
Why do investors choose to keep playing the loser’s game? Larry Swedroe offers some explanations of his own, then unpacks a study that suggests a form of the conjunction fallacy has a role in active management’s survival. The opening chapter of my first book, “The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need,”…
Kids have become top targets for identity thieves. The BAM ALLIANCE’s Jared Hoffman outlines the warning signs that a child’s identity has been compromised, and some cybersecurity measures you can take to keep it from happening to a young person you love. Many under the age of 16 don’t have much money, a line of…
Tim Maurer offers a simple retirement stress test and asks what is perhaps the better question: What number works for you? “Wow, those guys must be millionaires!” I can recall uttering those words as a child, driving by the nicest house in our neighborhood—you know, the one with four garages filled with cars from Europe. The…
Failing to properly plan for the costs associated with aging can have dire consequences for the retirement you envision. Larry Swedroe unpacks a resource to help investors navigate the many financial aspects of elder and long-term care. In planning for retirement, most people—and their advisors—consider issues such as: How much savings will be needed to…
Larry Swedroe examines a new study that highlights the negative relationship between activity and performance in bond funds. Does it pay to be active in fixed-income markets? To help answer that question, Martin Rohleder, chair of Finance and Banking at the University of Augsburg, examined the performance of active fund managers in his December 2017…
