Retirement Watch Weekly
How to Beat Other Investors
For a number of years, institutional investors have been cheerleaders for what is known as the “Yale model” of investing. Generally, this involves choosing asset classes other than basic stocks and bonds and also changing that allocation periodically to reflect changes in markets and the economy. The latest research, however, indicates that the Yale model […]
Beware Medicare “Observation” Status
You might need a subscription to read this from The Wall Street Journal, but I’ll give you the highlights. As you might know, when you’re at a hospital you might be officially admitted or you might be kept there but under “observation status.” Ideally observation status is so doctors can run tests and take other […]
Slower Growth, Lower Returns
In the November issue of Retirement Watch, now available on the members’ web site, I estimate that investment returns over the next five to 10 years will be lower than investors are used to or expect. Here’s a similar argument, which estimates that economic growth in the future is going to lower than we are […]
Beating the Market – Updated
This week’s announcement of the Nobel Prize for Economic Science triggered a lot of fresh debate about market efficiency and whether it is possible to beat the market. I like this column by John Cassidy. He argues, I think correctly, that markets aren’t efficient. But here’s one point that I think many people miss. They […]
Malcolm Gladwell’s Latest
I like a lot of Malcolm Gladwell’s writing, especially his first book, Tipping Point. But he’s drawn critics in recent years. They level charges such as oversimplifying research conclusions, missing the nuances conclusions of academic papers, and the like. Here’s a good review in USA Today that explains why Gladwell’s work generates a lot of […]
Age and Financial Decisions
I write regularly about the research on aging and financial decisions. It doesn’t matter how smart you are. Analytical decisionmaking declines, and it begins to decline earlier than most people think. There are ways to deal with this, other than turning your decisionmaking over to other people. But the coping mechanism isn’t what most people […]
Nobel Prize in Economics – Stock Market Pricing
Three economists who separately worked on how assets, especially stocks, are priced won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Science. It’s an interesting collection of co-winners. One can argue that their research builds on each other, or one can argue that they are contradictory. I’ve reviewed several articles explaining the different research of the winners […]
Misinformation on Investment Diversification
Most investors believe they are diversified. They are told to diversify by the financial services industry. I’ve argued for many years that the traditional diversification peddled by the financial services industry isn’t real diversification, putting investors at more risk than they believe they are taking. From time to time Wall Street admits that people really […]
