I was prompted by a question from Peter Thiel’s book Zero to One which I am finally getting around to reading. He asks this in every job interview: “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?” The answer reveals a contrarian view that is essentially the seed for a disruptive business or […]
Dear Reader, For over a month, my wife Gina, and our four kids (17, 13, 9, and 7) recently hiked and toured our way through the villages and mountains of Europe. There are surprisingly few options for crews as large as ours so we Airbnb’d our way through Germany, Slovenia, and Italy. This was a […]
Men are struggling. The narrative is everywhere. It includes how it shows up at work (via distraction, withdrawal, etc.), the lack of emotional intimacy in friendships, and the struggle to ask for help. It is hard to remember a time when the words “aggressive balance” were more applicable than over the last few years. It […]
When the stock market is near all-time highs, smart investors feel confident as they reflect on the strategies that have made them successful. As their wealth has grown, they have benefitted from many of the advantages of savers. This includes buying the dips, rising income and savings, and tax-free growth in their retirement plans. However, […]
Experience is not the same as expertise. Confusing the two creates the potential for mistakes as smart investors approach retirement. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that it takes 10,000 hours of experience to become an expert in a particular field. Smart investors spend thousands of hours saving and investing during their […]
…The most optimistic psychology is always applied when things are thought to be going well, compounding and exaggerating the positives, and the most depressed psychology is applied when things are going poorly, compounding the negatives. This guarantees that extreme highs and lows will always be the eventual result in cycles, not the exception. We have […]
Do you have a date set for when you will retire? Maybe it’s the day you turn 65, or maybe when you are eligible for your full Social Security benefit. Whether it is imminent or still a few years off, you have probably thought hard about how to prepare your family and your finances for […]
Do you know someone who has floundered when they walked away from work? Think of that person you know whose identity was tied up in the ‘uniform’ that they wore for so many years. A suit and tie or the company colors. They identified closely with their role on a team or their status among […]
Building Retirement Income It is a paralyzing feeling to stare at a lump sum payout of cash and think about investing it. If you’re like me, at some point you have received a bonus or a windfall in some form or size and thought, “I should invest this in something that will grow more than […]