The Big Picture

MARCH 28, 2024

“Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: Our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” – Daniel Kahneman The loss of Danny Kahneman is a reminder that we should review some of his work and apply them to the current market. I am fascinated by the idea of Narrative Fallacy (the term was actually coined by Nassim Taleb in “ The Black Swan “) and how it applies to pretty much ewverything.

Manufacturing 339

Manufacturing Economy Economics Marketing 339

Abnormal Returns

MARCH 24, 2024

Also on the site What is wrong with this picture? How your charitable intentions can get co-opted after you are gone. (abnormalreturns.com) Top clicks this week Ten things to know about building a diversified portfolio. (morningstar.com) How home buying is going to change with the upheaval of realtor commissions. (thebasispoint.com) Byrne Hobart, "Decades of above-average net worth compounding are the reward for taking a big idea seriously, continuously refining it, and implementing it in the re

Commission 304

Commission Numbers Portfolio Marketing 304

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 25, 2024

For the advisor leading a virtual team, the day-to-day can offer a rewarding blend of flexibility, creativity, and productivity; at the same time, though, many of the benefits of remote work can also make it challenging to build a tight-knit team culture. For example, with flexibility comes fewer synchronous interactions, which in turn can result in less innovation, team bonding, and collaboration.

Planning 230

Planning Taxes Management Clients 230

Carson Wealth

MARCH 28, 2024

Retirement planning is a journey that generally takes decades to complete and most of us start out along the do-it-yourself path. More than likely, your first step was to enroll in an employer-provided plan such as a 401(k) or setting up an individual retirement account, also known as an IRA. But at some point, most of us need to graduate from the DIY approach and seek advice from a retirement planning professional.

Retirement Planning 141

Retirement Planning Retirement Planning Taxes 141

Speaker: Amanda Adams, Fractional CFO, CPA

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Amanda Adams, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

Accounting

The Big Picture

MARCH 23, 2024

Billionaires know they are. Low-wage workers are very well aware that they aren’t. But vast swaths of America’s “regular rich” don’t feel that way, and it’s keeping everybody down. [link] via Bloomberg. Electric Boogie Woogie Wagon [link] 17 astounding scientific mysteries that researchers can’t yet solve What is the universe made out of?

Math 184

Math Commission Insurance Government 184

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 29, 2024

Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that a recent survey suggests Americans are increasingly prioritizing work-life balance over higher salaries, with 2/3 of respondents indicating that they would rather work at a job that they loved rather than a job they disliked but paid more money.

Financial Planner 197

Financial Planner Insurance Coverage Financial Advisor Communication 197

A Wealth of Common Sense

MARCH 26, 2024

In March 2020, at the height of uncertainty at the outset of the pandemic, I wrote about what it took to get to the roaring 1920s. This chart sums it up nicely: Here’s what I wrote at the time: How many people at the time would have predicted during the war/pandemic/recession/depression years that the 1920s would be one of the most innovative, prosperous periods our country had ever seen?

Marketing 133

Marketing Marketing 133

Calculated Risk

MARCH 26, 2024

S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for January ("January" is a 3-month average of November, December and January closing prices). This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index. From S&P S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index Continues to Trend Upward in January 2024 The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S.

Assets 133

Assets 133

Abnormal Returns

MARCH 25, 2024

Bonds The U.S. Treasury market is only getting bigger. (wsj.com) The yield curve has been inverted for a record amount of time. (axios.com) Junk bond issuers are rushing to refinance and extend maturities with spreads at multi-year lows. (finance.yahoo.com) Which bonds prove as the best portfolio diversifier? (morningstar.com) AI Don't let AI mumbo jumbo from a fund manager fool you.

Financial Advising 268

Financial Advising Media Portfolio Management 268

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

Accounting

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 27, 2024

One way financial advisors can add value for retiring clients is to estimate how much they can spend sustainably during their retirement years without depleting their investment portfolio. Advisors in this position have several options to help them determine a client's initial spending level, from 'static' approaches like the 4% Rule to more dynamic approaches that allow for higher initial withdrawal rates (but introduce the possibility of spending cuts during retirement).

Retirement 188

Retirement Portfolio Clients Financial Advisor 188

A Wealth of Common Sense

MARCH 24, 2024

Last week I wrote about how the collective net worth of Americans is at a new all-time high. A reader asked a fair follow-up question: I’d be interested in seeing the concentration of that net worth though…I’m guessing it’s an inverted direction. Just because many households are richer than ever doesn’t mean all of them are.

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Calculated Risk

MARCH 28, 2024

The DOL reported : In the week ending March 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 210,000 , a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 210,000 to 212,000. The 4-week moving average was 211,000, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average.

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Abnormal Returns

MARCH 28, 2024

Books An excerpt from "On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America" by Abrahm Lustgarten. (theatlantic.com) A Q&A with Jonathan Haidt author of "The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness." (davidepstein.substack.com) An excerpt from "Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout" by Cal Newport.

Communication 263

Communication Startup Assets Planning 263

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Join us in this webinar, where we share best practices on how to think about the reconciliation work each month, when best to do reconciliations, how they should be prepared, and some common pitfalls to avoid. Learning Objectives: This course objective is to understand how to properly prepare and review balance sheet reconciliations and its impact on the financial statements.

Accounting

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 26, 2024

Welcome back to the 378th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Michael Collins. Michael is the CEO & Founder of WinCap Financial, an RIA based in Boston, Massachusetts, that oversees $80M in assets under management for 70 client households. What's unique about Michael, though, is that since 2021 he has been able to grow WinCap Financial at a rate of more than $10M of AUM per year through consistently reaching out to leads purchased through SmartAs

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Financial Advisor Clients Wealth Management Communication 130

A Wealth of Common Sense

MARCH 29, 2024

I got a new credit card this week. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good sign-up bonus and the free bags on American flights will basically pay for the annual fee. A new card always comes with a lot of paperwork. They have all sorts of numbers to run by you, along with plenty of fine print. As a personal finance junkie, I always like to thumb through this stuff.

Numbers 127

Numbers 127

Calculated Risk

MARCH 27, 2024

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications decreased 0.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 22, 2024. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Marketing 129

Marketing Marketing 129

Abnormal Returns

MARCH 26, 2024

ETFs How the existence of sector ETFs affects analyst estimates. (papers.ssrn.com) How mutual funds and ETFs can exist side-by-side. (papers.ssrn.com) Macro Hedging inflation risk is harder than it looks. (insights.finominal.com) How do macro factors affect trend following returns? (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) Quant stuff It's not difficult to calculate downside beta.

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Portfolio Assets Investing Investments 263

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As we step into 2024, the lending landscape evolves rapidly with technology, regulations, and market dynamics driving change. For banks and financial institutions to stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of their customers, these drivers must be understood and engaged with. Lenders can anticipate significant transformation fueled by technological advancements, regulatory shifts, and changing consumer behaviors.

Banking

Carson Wealth

MARCH 26, 2024

By Mike Valenti, CPA, CFP®, Director,Tax Planning LLCs can provide legal protections and a level of anonymity, either or both of which can be beneficial for business owners, investors, and others with valid intentions. But those features also attract criminal activity, and layers of shell companies can create excellent cover for those involved in fraudulent activities.

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License Tax Planning CFP Taxes 129

Meb Faber Research

MARCH 29, 2024

Guest: Steve Edmundson is the Chief Investment Officer at the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Nevada (NVPERS), overseeing over $60 billion in assets. Recorded: 3/18/2024 | Run-Time: 48:01 Summary: As pension funds continue to hire more employees, pay more and more fees and build more complex portfolios, Steve is an outlier for his approach that emphasizes […] The post Episode #526: Indexing Nevada PERS: Steve Edmundson’s $60 Billion Strategy appeared first on Meb Faber

Retirement 124

Retirement Portfolio Assets Investing 124

Alpha Architect

MARCH 29, 2024

Strong empirical evidence demonstrates that momentum (both cross-sectional and time-series) provides information on the cross-section of returns of many risk assets and has generated alpha relative to existing asset pricing models. Economic Momentum was originally published at Alpha Architect. Please read the Alpha Architect disclosures at your convenience.

Economics 123

Economics Assets Investments Investing 123

Abnormal Returns

MARCH 25, 2024

Podcasts Michael Kitces and Carl Richards talk about how to help clients find their 'enough.' (kitces.com) Daniel Crosby talks financial well-being with Philip Courtenay. (standarddeviationspod.com) The biz Goldman Sachs ($GS) wants its place at the model portfolio table. (investmentnews.com) Vanguard is not budging in its negative view on crypto products.

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Insurance Retirement Portfolio Clients 146

Speaker: Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader

In today’s competitive market, pricing is more than just a number — it’s the cornerstone of profitability. The right pricing strategy ensures that you capture the true value of your offering, paving the way for sustainable growth and long-term success. Join Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader, in this exclusive session where he will explore how a well-crafted pricing approach balances customer perception with business objectives, creating a powerful tool for securing both competitive advantage a

Numbers

Wealth Management

MARCH 28, 2024

Investing in venture capital funds targeting tech start-ups carries high risks and requires a tolerance for decades of illiquidity. But all it takes is one outperforming company to make it worth it.

Investing 122

Investing Investments 122

A Wealth of Common Sense

MARCH 28, 2024

A reader asks: Ben always shares the long-run returns for stocks, bonds and cash. It’s essentially 10%, 5% and 3%. I know past is not predictive, blah, blah, blah but am well aware that cash has the lowest prospective returns of the main asset classes. Knowing this full well, I still want to keep 10% of my portfolio in cash in retirement so I can sleep at night.

Retirement 117

Retirement Portfolio Assets Asset Allocation 117

Alpha Architect

MARCH 27, 2024

Options have a bad reputation, and for good reason. After all, our friends at Wall Street Bets have taken over and turned the options market into a casino. But just like options can be used for gambling, they can also be used to structure risk and formulate payoffs that have the potential to reduce risk at the portfolio level. In fact, options are one of the best tools at our disposal to manage portfolio risk, if used correctly.

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Portfolio Management Marketing Marketing 120

Calculated Risk

MARCH 29, 2024

From the BEA: Personal Income and Outlays for February: Personal income increased $66.5 billion (0.3 percent at a monthly rate) in February , according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $50.3 billion (0.2 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $145.5 billion (0.8 percent).

Food 116

Food Taxes Economics 116

Speaker: Joe Buhrmann, MBA, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC® Senior Financial Planning Practice Management Consultant eMoney Advisor

During an era of evolving consumer preferences, the banking sector is undergoing a profound shift. As customers continue to broaden their perspectives, banking professionals must support their customers' financial wellness by providing holistic financial advice that aligns with individual goals and circumstances. Without adapting, financial institutions will find that loyalty may crumble amid uncertainty.

Financial Advice

Wealth Management

MARCH 28, 2024

Savant CEO and founder Brent Brodeski shares his playbook of success through M&A as a means to fill service gaps and expand his service model across 15 states, with national ambitions.

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Advisor Perspectives

MARCH 28, 2024

Consumer sentiment reached its highest level since July 2021 this month according to the final report for the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. The index rose 2.5 points (3.3%) to 79.4 from the February final. The latest reading was below the forecast of 76.5.

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Alpha Architect

MARCH 25, 2024

This study offers valuable information to provide insights into the underlying mechanisms driving investment behavior. For example, recognizing the impact of Neuroticism on belief formation and risk perception can help explain why some investors exhibit greater aversion to stock market volatility. Similarly, understanding how Openness influences risk preferences can shed light on why certain individuals are more willing to take investment risks than others.

Investing 113

Investing Investments Marketing Marketing 113