Over the last five years, I’ve spent a lot of time traveling the world to talk to people about money. At least one common theme comes up again and again: anxiety. People are worried about the future and want to know what they can do to prepare themselves for a stable financial life. As we…
There’s a powerful agenda behind the opposition to the rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requiring that advisors to retirement plans be fiduciaries: The securities industry wants to preserve its ability to give conflicted advice. There’s a lot at stake. Background Information Fiduciaries are required to put the interests of their clients…
The most compelling findings regarding financial decision-making are found not in spreadsheets, but in science. A blend of psychology, biology and economics, much of the research on this topic has been around for years. Its application in mainstream personal finance, however, is barely evident. Perhaps a simple analogy will help you begin employing this wisdom…
I have a crazy idea I want to run by you. Imagine that a cultural anthropologist finds one of your credit card statements in 100 years. What would your spending suggest you value the most? Based on your spending, what assumptions might someone make about how you live your life? Our credit card statements (really,…
The most compelling findings regarding financial decision-making are found not in spreadsheets, but in science. A blend of psychology, biology and economics, much of the research on this topic has been around for years. Its application in mainstream personal finance, however, is barely evident. Perhaps a simple analogy will help you begin employing this wisdom…
Regular readers of my books and articles are likely well aware that I’m a big fan of the field of behavioral finance. In fact, I try to read everything I can on the subject. The first half of my book, “Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them,” discusses many of the…
The first half of 2015 again brought hedge funds little in the way of relief from their historically poor performance. Hedge funds entered 2015 coming off their sixth-straight year of trailing U.S. stocks by significant margins. And for the 10-year period from 2005 through 2014—which includes the worst bear market in the post-Depression era—the HFRX…
Q: What Is the Federal Reserve System? A: The Federal Reserve is the central bank for the United States. It is composed of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks located around the country as well as the Board of Governors, the independent government agency, in Washington D.C. A 12 member board is selected from these entities…
The securities industry is all atwitter at the prospect of having to put the interests of retirement plan participants above its own. It’s marshaling its massive resources to fight a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that would require all advisors to be “fiduciaries” to the employees saving for retirement in these…
Investors certainly have enough to worry about these days. In addition to concerns about the Greek crisis itself, a lot of investors are worried about the risk of it spreading. Greece did indeed default on its International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, but has since repaid it with the new rescue package it received. Many of…
The securities industry is all atwitter at the prospect of having to put the interests of retirement plan participants above its own. It’s marshaling its massive resources to fight a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that would require all advisors to be “fiduciaries” to the employees saving for retirement in these…
Even though financial theory has long held that dividend policy should be irrelevant to stock returns, there has been a rush in recent years to invest in dividend-paying stocks. This trend has been fueled both by media hype and the current regime of interest rates, which are well below historical averages. The low yields on…
Over the last five years, I’ve spent a lot of time traveling the world to talk to people about money. At least one common theme comes up again and again: anxiety. People are worried about the future and want to know what they can do to prepare themselves for a stable financial life. As we…
Over the past decade, structured investment products, also known as equity- or index-linked notes, have become increasingly common in the portfolios of retail investors. In 2013 alone, more than $40 billion in structured notes were issued. And this is not just a U.S. phenomenon. A 2009 study by Marc Rieger and Thorsten Hens found that…
One of the more popular strategies pursued by hedge funds is the currency carry trade. The strategy involves borrowing (going short) a currency with a relatively low interest rate and then using the proceeds to purchase (going long) a currency yielding a higher interest rate, thus capturing the interest differential. The strategy can be “enhanced”…