We invest to grow our wealth, so it’s natural to want to keep score. How are we doing? If we’re not doing as well as we’d like, or as well as the other guy, maybe we need to make some changes. This is how we’re programmed. We did this in school with our grades. We […]
Be Careful What You Measure Read More »
It’s Proxy season again. If we invest in a number of companies, we’ll likely find quite a few emails in our inbox telling us to Vote Now! While this may look like a scam, it’s not. This is the time of year when companies issue their annual reports and invite shareholders to vote on key
About 5 years ago, I started helping my mom with her finances. She asked me to help, not because she was concerned about her investment performance or because she was uncomfortable making investment decisions on her own, she asked because she was constantly getting a pile of fund prospectuses on her doorstep. Seriously, the thing
Diversification v. Diworseification Read More »
What the heck is a board of directors anyway? In today’s post, we’ll talk about 2 recent events that demonstrate the difference between an effective board of directors and a not so effective board. Before we do, let’s talk about what a board of directors does. Public Companies All public companies have a board of
A Tale of 2 Boards Read More »
That’s a lot. But, let’s put it in perspective. My wife and I have 64% of our net worth invested in equities. The 64% is a mix of individual stocks and some mutual funds. We’re both retired, so we need our investments to grow and generate income to pay our bills. If we live to
I Spent $13,967 For An Investing Class Read More »
If you are the average American, the answer is simple. Not enough. Why is this? Well, with many Americans living paycheck to paycheck, it’s hard to put money away. This is a common answer, but it’s not the whole story. Many wealthy families are also significantly behind in their retirement saving. So what gives? Are
How Much Have You Saved For Retirement? Read More »
This one is a slippery slope for me. As a rule, I will not buy shares of a company that I’ve sold. But there have been a few exceptions… Selling I don’t make a sell decision easily. I generally start to see a pattern that puts my thesis at risk and I watch for a
Buying Shares Of A Company I’ve Sold Read More »
I’ve written a few posts lately about how I’ve gotten investment ideas. I talk a lot about how I loved the Netflix DVD by mail service and after a little bit of research, I decided to make an investment in the business. More recently, I wrote about General Mills and their move into pet food.
Solar Was A Bad (Investing) Idea Read More »
If you’ve read my posts on covered call options, here, here and here, you may have wondered who is buying the option contracts that I’m selling. Covered Calls Trading in options can be risky, however, covered calls are probably the safest of all option trades. On a covered call, I am buying shares of a
Who Is On The Other Side Of My Option Trade? Read More »
We should be asking this about all the companies in our portfolio, not just our favorite. And if this question doesn’t really interest you, I have a nice low-cost S&P 500 fund for you to check out. Take a look at iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV). OK, maybe that’s a bit snarky for a
Is Your Favorite Company Evolving? Read More »