Because of the variability of stock market returns in the short run, I steer clients away from short-term tactical changes to their portfolio and prefer to rely on the weighty evidence of history, along with long-term thematic trends in the market.

While no one has consistently and accurately predicted what the stock market is going to do, several well-respected firms provide long-term outlooks that have proven to be more accurate than short-term predictions…

I often write about financial planning strategies that assume a rate of return. I try my best to use reasonable assumptions but even these assumptions can be misleading.  

For example, the average return was 10% for the S&P 500 (or similar index) over the past 90+ years. Investing would be a whole lot easier if we could have the assurance that the 10% would come every year. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way…

Having a diversified portfolio can be an agonizing experience. On one hand, you will always have some exposure to the best-performing investments, but it will never be as much as you want it to be.  

For the past decade, it has been difficult to own small-cap stocks, international stocks, and value stocks. US growth stocks and REITS have been some of the best investments. But even these investments have had some terrible years…

You have likely heard the saying “Be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy.” It sounds simple in theory – be a buyer when stocks are cheap and a seller when they are expensive.

But why is that so hard?