Each year, Dimensional analyzes returns from a large sample of US-based mutual funds. Our objective is to assess the performance of mutual fund managers relative to benchmarks. This year’s study updates results through 2018. The evidence shows that a majority of fund managers in the sample failed to deliver benchmark-beating returns after costs. We believe that the results of this research provide a strong case for relying on market prices when making investment decisions.
Appreciate The Trade-Off Between Risk And Return
The theory is simple enough: The more risk you are willing to assume, the higher the expected potential return. The challenges, though, are selecting an asset allocation that will provide the returns you require to meet your long-term financial goals and sticking to the allocation through up and down markets.
A Tale of Two Decades: Lessons for Long-Term Investors
The first decade of the 21st century, and the second one that’s drawing to a close, have reinforced for investors some timeless market lessons: Returns can vary sharply from one period to another. Holding a broadly diversified portfolio can help smooth out the swings.
Elevator Button Controls
How many of us have pushed the “Door Close” button on the elevator thinking it closed the door faster? Interestingly that button on most elevators is a placebo. It does not actually close the door faster. The sole purpose is to help impatient people have a better experience by giving them the illusion of control. Riders get to hit something to reduce stress without harming late arrivers. In addition, the doors will eventually close, so they get a feeling of accomplishment as well. Thus, our mental health is preserved without us knowing it was even influenced.
Learn About Caring For An Elderly Parent
At some point in life, nearly everyone will require at least some help with the challenges of daily living. This guide is designed to help you become familiar with the common eldercare issues, as well as the care options available for an aging parent, spouse, or other loved one.
5 Best Practices For Philanthropists
For hundreds of years, across all cultures and lifestyles, philanthropy has been an integral part of society, forging the way for great educational and art institutions, human service organizations, and many neighbors giving their communities an extra hand. Today, those who choose to give to charity do so in new ways and for a variety of reasons. While the end goal has remained the same – positive, charitable impact – the road to get there now requires a commitment to intentional, thoughtful, well – planned giving.
Getting To The Point Of A Point
A quick online search for “Dow rallies 500 points” yields a cascade of news stories with similar titles, as does a similar search for “Dow drops 500 points.” These types of headlines may make little sense to some investors, given that a “point” for the Dow and what it means to an individual’s portfolio may be unclear. The potential for misunderstanding also exists among even experienced market participants, given that index levels have risen over time and potential emotional anchors, such as a 500-point move, do not have the same impact on performance as they used to. With this in …
What Does The Inverted Yield Curve Mean?
We typically keep these newsletters light on technical details, but given the abundant news on yield curves we thought diving into this would help quell fears. The yield curve graph below shows the relationship between bond yields and bond maturity. Typically, investors require higher interest rates for longer maturity bonds. Back when we all visited physical banks 😊, we walked by the posted Certificate of Deposit (CD) rates. You might remember the longer-term CDs had higher rates. This makes sense. Investors want higher rates if the bank is going to hold their money for longer period of time.
Appreciate The Trade-off Between Risk And Return
The theory is simple enough: The more risk you are willing to assume, the higher the expected potential return. The challenges, though, are selecting an asset allocation that will provide the returns you require to meet your long-term financial goals and sticking to the allocation through up and down markets.
Keeping Secure
It’s not new information that cyber attacks occur frequently. We must be especially careful to keep our private information truly private. In 2018, total cost for globally committed cybercrime was over $1 trillion dollars! What is an even more striking and useful number is that 95% of cybersecurity breaches are due to human error. If that’s the case, what can 1 we do to better protect ourselves? Read All