In recently revisiting Jim Collins’ classic, bestselling business book “Good to Great,” I was reminded of this timeless tip: Successful business owners make as much use of “stop doing” lists as they do of “to do” lists. “Most of us lead busy but undisciplined lives,” says Collins. “We have ever-expanding ‘to do’ lists, trying to build momentum by doing, doing, doing – and doing more. And it rarely works.” In his related piece, “Pulling the Plug.” He adds: “One key decision about what to stop … [Read more...]
Are you ready to KISS your investment strategy?
Markets are up. Markets are down. Don’t blink, or they’ll spike or plummet yet again. Given the continuous seeming “betrayals,” I am not surprised by how many people I meet who would love to break up with their investment strategy (if they’ve got one to begin with) and have lost hope that they’ll ever find one they can embrace. To move past the uncertainty, consider emulating some of the luminaries of the financial economics community and KISS your investments (Keep It Simple … well, you know … [Read more...]
Why you should ignore the financial media if you are a patient, long term investor.
It is no surprise to anyone who knows me that I find very little financial or investment value from the financial media. I don’t see any entertainment value either. While there are many talented journalists who write valuable and insightful articles, for better or worse the Internet has fragmented things so much that it is virtually impossible for us to distinguish what is fact versus opinion, fact versus fiction, or if something has some sort of hidden bias or narrative. From my … [Read more...]
Is it you … or the kids?
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the launch party of a book called Pensionize Your Nest Egg: How to Use Product Allocation to Create a Guaranteed Income for Life, written by Dr. Moshe Milevsky and Alexandra MacQueen. The authors use “pensionize” as a verb, which in their definition is to: convert money into income you can't outlive, or create your own personal pension, a monthly income that lasts for the rest of your natural life. What they are using as the gold … [Read more...]